How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities
by TheGrudge154
Summary: A collection of one-shots and short stories that act as 'what-ifs' and imaginings based around or after the events of HTTYD 2. Reviews appreciated. Rated T for violence. Current Story: Forget the Red Death. Forget Bewilderbeasts and maniacal Dragon Gods. Forget being the chief of a Viking island. Doing this was going to be the hardest thing Hiccup had ever done.
1. Phobia

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

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 **1: _Phobia:_ **_After working on repairing the village in the wake of Drago's attack, Hiccup returns home to find his beloved dragon acting strange during a bout of stormy weather. It's only through his attempts to comfort his friend that he realizes the source of Toothless' fear lies in parallel to his own internal worries._

* * *

It had been a long day for Hiccup, longer than he had remembered the recent days being. As new chief of the village, he had been spending the majority of his free time overseeing the final few fixes to the previously ruined homes from the events of a matter of weeks ago. Even now, just a month after Drago's unsuccessful attack on the island of Berk, the repairs to the damage had only just began to bear proper fruit even with the help of his mother Valka's dragons. The village was at least beginning to resemble its former state now and the majority of the gigantic shards of ice left by the former Alpha had either been broken down with help from the dragons or eventually just washed away by the frequent storms now starting to hammer the small Viking home. Although it was that very reason that things had been slow today in particular. It was around the time of year when the oceanic weather was starting to hit the land with everything it had. Today alone there had been strong winds and rains together in heavy spurts of activity before subsiding just as quickly and Hiccup could've sworn he had even felt hail at one point when he was in the air with Toothless. It was getting to a point that even flying with the dragons was a challenge in itself, with the majority of the inhabitants preferring to stay indoors away from the brutal conditions until things became clearer. And Hiccup couldn't blame them thanks to the dangers it presented. Hiccup himself had managed to get caught in another bout of rain, the droplets starting to flatten his hair down as the storm began to intensify. A brilliant flash of light lit the ground beneath him before it was followed a moment later by a heavy rumbling noise muffled by the clouds. His eyes glanced upwards at the noise as he decided to quicken his pace home. The ground beneath his feet was already becoming waterlogged, splashes and squishes sounding out with each step he took. He mentally cringed at the mud. It always had to be mud. He thought that Toothless had had the right idea an hour or so ago, the dragon having long since fled inside the house at the first notion of things becoming damp again. Probably having grown tired of his wings being pelted with all those annoying pellets of water, or so Hiccup guessed. Astrid and the others had decided to call it a day around the same time the Night Fury had left, leaving just Hiccup to catch up with his mother who had already headed inside to his house. With a shiver running up his spine as cold moisture started to run down the back of his neck, Hiccup didn't miss a beat in grabbing the door, pushing it open and nearly praying there was a fire waiting.

The bang from the wooden frame hitting the wall seemed to amplify itself in tandem with another boom of thunder, the young chieftain quickly closing it behind him and bolting the metal lock over the hinge. He spun back round to glance around his home, kneeling down on his prosthetic leg to loosen his single shoe and remove it. He stepped forward, letting a small sigh rise from his throat as the heated stone beneath his bare feet seemed to help ease away the chill of outside from his skin. A small little invention he'd cooked up in a few houses as a test, having stones laid in such a way that they would retain the heat of a dragon's fire for a while in colder conditions. Sure, it needed the particularly long lasting flame of a Monstrous Nightmare to pull off, but it was a work in progress. Even as the leader of the village, Hiccup's tinkering habits hadn't seemed to ease off. As he walked into the room, he noticed Valka sitting in the main living area near the fire pit. The fire was still burning strong in the center of the room and the window to the back of the house had been swung open, likely due to the increasing wind, but she had failed to notice. Her dragon Cloudjumper was sat on the other side of the heat source, his bulky body rising and falling during his slumber as the odd snoring growl vibrated along the ground. The beast's four wings were tucked in at his sides as if to retain what heat he could, the large fins around his head occasionally adjusting themselves to catch the heat emanating from the flames. Though Hiccup had expected Cloudjumper to have been joined by a companion at this point, Toothless was nowhere to be seen, making Hiccup guess he may have been upstairs in their room. He began to wring out his hair, creating rather substantial puddles of water on the floor around his feet.  
"I did need a shower anyway…" he said absentmindedly to himself, moving onto wringing out his sleeves as another crash of thunder sounded through the open window. Valka looked up at his mumbling with a warm smile, dropping the fire poker and making space for her son to sit down again.  
"About time you got back in, I thought you'd be catching a cold if you stayed out much longer" she spoke up, the crackling of the flames adding a nice ambiance to their abode.  
"Really, Mom? Chiefs don't get colds. At least according to Gobber, I shouldn't if I want to be one" Hiccup replied, sitting himself down by her side with a grunt.  
"Even the greatest chiefs still have mothers to worry about them, you know" Valka mused with a raised brow, wrapping an arm around her son's shoulder and pulling him a little closer. Hiccup didn't resist as he stretched out his hands to warm them up on the fire. These moments between them were always welcome. Now that she had properly settled onto the island, Valka had been making the effort to spend as much time with Hiccup as possible, an action that Hiccup himself had relished the chance to take her up on. After all, they had years to catch up on. It was what his father would've wanted for the two of them.  
"At least we'll nearly be done by tomorrow if the weather eases off." she continued, her hand trailing down to his and interlocking with his fingers. Hiccup nodded with a smile, a smirk briefly escaping his mouth.  
"Yeah, as long as no power-mad, dragon controlling psychopaths decide to show up for round two" he grumbled, prompting Valka to playfully jab at his arm.  
"Well, I'm sure it won't come to that. With you in charge, we'll be ready for next time." The two continued to sit in silence for a moment longer, staring into the dancing and formless outlines of the fire before them before Hiccup leaned his head against Valka's shoulder.  
"Mom? Do you think I'm being a good chief?" he asked, the question making Valka turn her gaze away from the heat. "I mean, I know I haven't done that much except turn up for the races or tell people to move logs, but..."  
"Of course you are, dear. We wouldn't be anywhere near done with rebuilding our home otherwise." she responded. "What makes you think you're not?"  
"I don't know..." Hiccup said, rolling his shoulders for a moment. "I guess it just hasn't really sunk in yet. All I've known has been doing everything that a chief shouldn't. Flying with Toothless to far off lands rather than shouting out speeches, sketching out maps and designs instead of running the village, it...doesn't seem real still." Valka continued to brush through Hiccup's hair as she pondered his worries.  
"But you've been able to do both, haven't you? In time, you'll be able to do that and much more for us all as well. Your father would never have asked you if he didn't think you were ready for it."  
Hiccup simply nodded without a word. Valka thought he didn't seem convinced. His face said it all about how even now he still had some lingering doubts. Ever since the attack, Valka had noticed Hiccup split his attention. Some days, he would focus on the village, be as helpful as he could manage by directing the others and making things work like a proper chief would in preparation for whatever the future may throw at them. He was a natural leader when he had the confidence, he had shown that plenty of times with the other riders alone. But every so often, Valka would see him simply lost in thought for some time, always looking out towards the sea as if he just wanted to fly off on his Night Fury's back and escape from it all. He'd done that when he'd first been asked after all. Stoick's legacy was a big one to live up to and Hiccup had been thrown into his shoes through the worst of circumstances. Probably the only downside to having the soul of a dragon was that the adventurous spark within never really faded with time. Valka's expression soured for a moment as she made him look her with the eye with a gentle movement of her hand.  
"You are the best chief for this village, Hiccup. You are the only one" she said sternly, her face seeming to be accented by the dim orange glow illuminating her skin. "I know you still have your doubts about what you're doing, about what your father would think and what he would've done in your place. But I also know that he would've been proud of you rising to the challenge."  
"Thanks, Mom..." Hiccup said, closing his eyes for a moment to savor the touch of her hand before her words make him look at her again.  
"Remember what I told you? On the plain where we watched him sail to Valhalla?" Valka asked, her voice hushed from the memory of that day returning to her thoughts. "You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. You're a wonderful thing in this world and he never stopped believing that. I wouldn't either." Her words seeemed to ease her boy's mind as Hiccup's mouth slowly curled into a smile. He nodded, shuffling his body a little closer to her side.  
"I guess all I can do is try to keep him proud then, right?" Valka nodded, roughing his hair up with her other hand.  
"And if you manage to slip up, I'll set you straight" she chuckled, faking a dragon roar playfully as she wrestled at her son's shoulders. He spluttered in surprise as he tried to escape her 'clutches'.  
"You and who's army?" Hiccup yelped, muffled by her arm as her laugh echoed into the room along with his. It was nice that they seemed to gel together so well despite their time apart and Hiccup felt his heart swell at it. The pair settled down after a moment and went back to looking at the fire, the crackling of the flames being the only sound besides the occasional rush of wind against the house's walls that they could hear. Hiccup felt content. After today, it was no wonder that this was making him relax. He swore could almost fall asleep like this, his eyes noticeably starting to droop a little as-

 ***BOOM***

The sudden explosion of noise coming through the still open window was enough to make him jump upright, shaking his head back to reality as Valka too had looked back at the exposed space where the sound had managed to slip in. Hiccup hopped to his feet, grabbing the hefty wooden shutters and slamming them shut, just as another crack of lightning managed to pierce the relative quiet of his house. Though this time, he could've sworn he heard another noise. A noise coming from upstairs that sounded suspiciously like a dragon. Hiccup glanced back at his mother who seemed to have heard it too.  
"He's been up there since I got in, hasn't come back down. I didn't want to disturb him, but best you go check on him, eh?" Valka suggested, picking up the fire poker again to keep the embers on the logs burning brightly. Hiccup nodded with another smile, grabbing onto the handrail and hurrying up the stairs, his metal leg sounding abnormally loud when compared to his good foot. He reached the top step of the landing, peering around in the shadows for any sign of his dragon.  
"Toothless?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down in case the Night Fury was resting. "Bud, you up here?" It only took a moment more for him to notice the outline of his beloved dragon, but something was...off.

Toothless was huddled near the corner of the room, the occasional flash of light from the storm getting through the cracks in the wood barely illuminating his darkly-coloured figure. He had compacted himself into the small space by Hiccup's bed and was glaring at the now shuttered window with one of the oddest expressions his human had noticed. Almost as if he was apprehensive. His paws were pressed flat against the tops and sides of his head, his ear-plates laid down flat against his neck. A soft growl was escaping his mouth every so often and the dragon didn't even seem to have noticed that anyone had come upstairs. Hiccup was a little stumped at Toothless' behaviour and began to take small steps towards him.  
"Toothless? It's just me. You alright?" Toothless didn't even seem to acknowledge Hiccup, still growling softly at the window with narrowed pupils. Hiccup took another few steps forward.  
"Something wrong, bud?" Toothless still didn't respond as a shiver ran down his scaled body from the groaning of the wooden walls against the gusting winds. Hiccup took a few more steps and then kneeled down, seating himself beside the dragon with a trace of a smile. This was almost too odd for Toothless, it seemed almost comical in how out of place it was.  
'Gobber hasn't been singing to you again, as he?' Hiccup asked, noticing how Toothless' ears were pressed flat. It was then that he noticed that his dragon seemed to be staring at the groaning walls of the house from the storm.  
"There's nothing out there, Toothless. Just another Berk-regulation storm" he said encouragingly, trying to figure out what the problem was. Still, Toothless did not take his eyes off of the glimpses of dark cloud in the sky he could manage to see through the cracks. Hiccup's initial brief amusement at this out of place behavior began to twist into concern the more the dragon seemed to be oblivious to him. He had seen Toothless worried and concerned before during their adventures, maybe apprehensive at worst when it came to a particular danger. But this seemed like it was stronger than that...almost like it was outright fear. He had never seen his friend so shaken by anything before and it made his chest hurt seeing the Night Fury like this. His arm reached out to try and get the dragon's attention when another crash of lightning illuminated the house through the cracks with a dim blue hue. Toothless instantaneously flinched and ceased his growling, pressing his paws firmer against his head and screwing his eyes shut. The growl was replaced by a light whimper as Hiccup was taken aback by it.  
"Toothless…?"  
He gently placed his hand over Toothless forehead, making the Night Fury twitch his head back in surprise. Realizing that it was his human, Toothless instantly darted forward to nuzzle Hiccup's palm with an affectionate noise, just as another bolt of lightning and its accompanying thunder flared into existence. The space between strikes seemed to be growing smaller and the dragon ducked his head down towards the floor with a loud whimper, attempting to shuffle himself further away from it. Hiccup's expression grew serious as he moved closer to Toothless' side.  
"Hey, it's OK. I'm here, bud...what's the matter?"  
Toothless lifted his head up to look at Hiccup, a whining noise piercing the quietness of the room as his eyes seemed to glisten in the flashes of light. Another boom made the dragon nearly squeak with another duck, similar to some sort of scared animal. Toothless had fought beasts more ferocious than he could ever be, cheated death from another dragon _twice_ and still managed to stand up and defend the Viking from danger each time. And yet somehow, all it was taking was the weather to make him act this way. Another low rumble of the continuous noises from the storm made Toothless duck down once more, pressing his claws firmly over his ear-plates with another whimper. The shivers returned as well, but not from the cold air this time. Toothless just had this awful feeling at those noises. Even though it was just a sound from the sky, it instinctively made him feel sick inside and he just wanted to get away from it and shut it out. It had been the reason that he had fled only an hour ago. The same thought kept playing over in his head, his wish to tell his human to make it stop.

Hiccup finally realized the reason for his dragon's behavior, the length of the day having made his thoughts slower to process. Despite being described in the past as a ruthless hunter who used the shadows to take down its prey, Hiccup would never have guessed that Toothless had any real phobias, let alone this one. In fact, he was surprised dragons even had phobias to start with. The biggest question in his mind was why had he never seen it before? He and Toothless had flown together to all sorts of far off places with all sorts of sights and sounds to boot (as well as terrible weather). Even in stormy weather, the dragon had never reacted like this before. Despite his mental questioning, seeing how upset his friend was becoming as his shuffling away from the window became more frantic spurred Hiccup to do his best to calm him down.  
"Easy, Toothless, easy. It's just a storm, we're safe in here. I promise, it can't hurt you."  
Toothless looked up at him with big eyes and nuzzled his hand once more as it reached around to rub under his chin. His croons turned from a fearful tone to a more affectionate one as he attempted to move closer to his Viking. As another crash of lightning sounded out, this particular one much louder than the ones that had come before it, the dragon physically jumped backwards in shock. Hiccup shuffled forward and quickly began scratching Toothless' head to keep him calm. The Night Fury was becoming restless in anticipation of another strike, another nearly pathetic sounding whine vibrating in his throat.  
"It's OK, Toothless...bud, I'm right here, see? I'm here" Hiccup repeated in a hushed tone to help his friend. "Just try and stay still, alright? It won't hurt you." He knew the command wouldn't help if Toothless didn't find a way to calm down and the Viking knew he needed a distraction to try and soothe his. The young man's mind raced as Toothless suddenly cried out again, his tone more desperate for some sort of relief from those frightening noises, a way to block it out. Hiccup's mind flashed through his memories and knowledge until it finally locked on one particular event just a few months ago. Back when another sound related incident had forced him to take more drastic measures. During their battle with Drago, despite the Alpha trying to control Toothless with those nearly sub-sonic noises, Hiccup had covered Toothless' eyes and ears to keep him numb to those frequencies. The intimidation of the Alpha had been both a visual and auditory influence and blocking it made Toothless immune to it. Perhaps the same thing would work here with the lightning? And at having that thought, Hiccup suddenly made a guess at what it was that was scaring Toothless so much. It was why Toothless had never reacted this way to weather of any sort before now and why it was affecting him so profoundly. It wasn't the lightning that was scaring him. It was what the sounds of the thunder were subconsciously reminding the dragon of.

Under the Alpha's control, Toothless had felt lost to his own body. He had been trapped, as if watching behind a veil at what someone else was doing instead of him. He had felt numb to any other sensation besides the utter dominance flooding his thoughts from those horrible rumblings of the Alpha. He had felt utterly powerless. He had watched himself nearly kill Hiccup, he had watched himself actually kill Hiccup's father...a member of his human's own family struck down by his flame. The way he had willingly followed that dragon-killing wretch into battle and attacked his own home as much as his subconscious mind had been screaming at himself to resist made Toothless feel sick with guilt. It was only thanks to his human's voice that the Alpha's roars had eventually been silenced. Toothless wanted to scream right now as much as his body wouldn't let him from his fear. Those sounds were another Bewilderbeast, he just knew it. He didn't want to hurt Hiccup again, not like before...he didn't want to be a tool for anyone, he just wanted to be Hiccup's dragon and nothing else. Hiccup continued his gentle rubbing around the large outline of Toothless' head as it sank in why the Night Fury was so afraid.  
"Oh, bud..." he started, his tone hushed as Toothless' ear plates twitched at his words. "I know you're scared. You're worried about the noises, aren't you? You don't want to hurt me, but you think you could from those sounds..." he continued, hating the fact he was having to recall the memories of what the Alpha had made him do. But he kept his encouraging tone as he continued to speak to his friend. "But you don't need to worry, bud. You won, Toothless. You beat him because you were stronger than him, braver than him, than all of it. _We_ beat him together." Hiccup braved another smile despite how it threatened to falter from seeing his closest companion in such a panic that he could do something to hurt the Viking, brushing over Toothless' snout with his fingers.  
"I know you still worry about what'll happen sometimes. But I promise you, bud, we'll move forward together. Even if you stumble and worry or you feel like you just need me to be there, I'll help you through it. And I know you'd do the same for me".  
Toothless whined again, staring back at his human through the darkness with big loving eyes as he shifted a little closer. Now that the Night Fury was relatively calm compared to before, Hiccup started to glance around the room for anything that would do for his 'blind' strategy. It was just his luck that he spotted the very same sheet of cloth he had used during the battle a few inches away near the end of his bed, a reminder he had kept to honor how they had flown together as one that day. His body started to lean away from the dragon to grab it and Toothless instantly noticed, letting out an insistent noise as his claws grabbed at Hiccup's legs to stop him from leaving. The Viking paused as he turned back to the Night Fury, rubbing under his chin again as another loud boom from above their heads made Toothless shiver in hatred of the fact the noises were still coming. Though not as bad as before.  
"Easy, Toothless, easy..." he whispered, bringing his head closer to the dragon's own and gently nuzzling against it, an action the pair of them usually shared together when they were alone. Toothless followed suit, a gentle vibration replacing his previous whimper as his eyes closed to focus on being close to his human. Hiccup brought his head up again, smiling warmly at his friend.  
"Do you trust me, bud?" he asked, his words echoing that day. Toothless was noticeably taken aback, remember that time vividly with a flutter of his ear plates. The dragon nodded, loosening his grip to allow Hiccup to grab the fabric. He closed his eyes as the Viking took it in both hands, gently wrapping it around the dragon's large head to cover his vision. Hiccup's hands traced over the smooth scale of his friend's head, running around to his ear plates and gently pressing them down in an insistent manner to make Toothless lower himself to the floor. A vibrating rumble shuddered its way through the floor to Hiccup's bare foot as Toothless' chin touched the ground, the metal in his prosthetic almost ringing from it as the dragon began to settle, his wings relaxing from their previous hunched up position.  
"Shhhh...that's it, bud, just relax...block it out..." Hiccup cooed, his fingers making sure to stay in the right spots as the Night Fury finally began to calm. He could no longer notice the noises from outside, his senses becoming dulled to everything except the gentle touches of his human around his head. Toothless could even manage a glimmer of a content smile as he willingly let Hiccup's sense of comfort overwhelm his senses. With none of those noises to scare him anymore, Toothless found himself settling quickly into a much needed deep sleep, his back rising and falling without worried, panicked noises or movements to accompany it. Hiccup smiled to himself, resting his forehead against his now sleeping companion as a final gesture of goodnight. As if to coincide with his "victory", the lingering rumble of thunder had already started to fade into nothing as the worst of the storm started to pass.

"You know him better than yourself sometimes" Valka mused, having quietly made her way up the stairs without being noticed to watch the scene before her. She'd never say it outloud to save her son from embarrassment, but the entire scene was just adorable. Hiccup spun his head around to her prescence, almost forgetting about how quiet footed she could be thanks to her years of being such around the dragons.  
"Oh, he was scared of the thunder...he thought it was another Bewilderbeast" Hiccup answered in a hushed voice. "He thought that the noises were going to make him act like he did with the Alpha before. He was scared of what could happen, like...I'm still worried I could do something wrong as the chief." Hiccup's sentence trailed off as he made the connection that he and his dragon weren't so different in their thoughts.  
"And yet you guided him. You knew exactly what to do to ease away his fears." Valka noted. "I'd think that a chief who makes those under his care feel safe is what we need right now." Hiccup nodded as he understood that his mother had a point.  
"I guess we both need to block those worries out somehow. Think it's going to take a little more than a blindfold for me, though." Valka nodded as a grin spread across her face. She stepped backwards onto the stairs nearly silently, gesturing to the sleeping Toothless with a nod of her head as if to allow Hiccup the space to stay with his dragon. He smiled back at her until she disappeared out of sight, the Viking shuffling closer to the Night Fury to continue rubbing over his head.  
"Long day, huh, bud?" he mumbled, the dragon's ear plate twitching at the noise as Toothless stirred briefly for a moment. He extended out of his front legs as one of his eyes opened slightly, an attempt to touch the human followed by a gentle tugging motion when his claw-tips made contact. Hiccup got the message loud and clear and began to move his body to lay down on the ground besides his friend. After the events of Drago's attack, Toothless had often wanted Hiccup to sleep near him like this instead of in his bed. And because Toothless had been rather insistent on the concept, Hiccup had come to enjoy the closeness to his friend when they laid beside each other like this. He'd probably say this was the best way he could think to sleep after the day both of them had had.  
Toothless shifted his body to the side and began to huddle his limbs inwards to pull the Viking as close to him as he could manage. Hiccup could already feel the warmth of Toothless' underbelly against his back and soon found those front paws wrapping themselves around his chest. He could feel Toothless' deep, bass-filled purrs in his head along with his heavy breathing as his chest expanded and shrunk. The purrs grew louder as Toothless nuzzled his head against the top of Hiccup's own with another affectionate croon, seeming like he was oblivious to the situation he had placed his human in...but Hiccup knew better. He chuckled as he whispered under his breath.  
"Just not too tightly, OK?"  
Toothless squeezed him as if to stop him talking and just accept the embrace. With another smirk, Hiccup glanced upwards at Toothless' closed eyes.  
"Anything to help you out, Toothless." he started. He paused before he spoke again, his voice turned almost inaudible as a sudden well of emotion spilled.  
"I...love you, bud."  
As strange as it seemed for him to hear himself say those words out loud, Hiccup couldn't think of another way to phrase what he meant. Toothless meant more than the world to him, like he had always been part of his family from the beginning. And he always would. From how he was being kept tightly close to the slumbering beast, he was sure it was the same way with his dragon. A soft purr provided Toothless' answer and Hiccup wouldn't object as the dragon wrapped his tail around them both and locked Hiccup in his warm embrace. Hiccup wrapped his own arms around one of Toothless' front paws and hugged it tightly against his chest.  
"Night, Toothless…sweet dreams, bud."  
Hiccup began to drift off, content in being alongside his warm and loving Night Fury for the rest of the chilly evening.

It was just the one night. But it was one of the most pleasant ones Hiccup could remember having for a long time.


	2. A Loss That Shouldn't Be

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **2: _A Loss That Shouldn't Be:_** _Stoick hadn't been fast enough. It should've been him, laying lifeless on the ground. Instead, Drago had managed to cut a wound deeper than any weapon could hope to. And he had cut deepest into a Night Fury._

* * *

"Stop!"  
The sudden yell caught Drago Bludvist's attention, distracting him from the victory that lay only a few moments away from his grasp. This giant of a man, his hair and and cloak of darkest black gently swaying in the wind growled, turning his head to the owner of the voice as it descended from the skies to land at his side. It was no doubt the Dragon Master riding atop his tamed Night Fury. Yet instead of being a bulking force that could have torn his forces apart as that girl has said, Drago was surprised to see his foe simply clad in some pathetic leather 'armor', with no weapons drawn or on his person. Just a small boy? He'd make sure to get that girl back for trying to dare intimidate him.

Drago smirked to himself at the boy's courage to address him directly. Maybe it was because of his foolishness that he found it amusing. Either way, this would turn out to be an interesting little confrontation. Drago watched though scarred eyes as the boy dismounted his dragon, sliding off the beast's back onto his feet, throwing his helmet to the ground. The young couldn't have been more than 20 and he certainly didn't live up to his father's 'Vast' reputation in his build. The youth's dragon glared at Drago with a growl, it's much smaller frame compared to the new Alpha enough to make the conqueror laugh. After all of the threats from his friends, all of the rumours about the youth's prowess, this was all he had to offer?  
"This?" Drago sneered. "This is the great 'Dragon Master'? The son of Stoick the Vast? What shame he must feel..."  
The boy didn't even flinch at the insult. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to Drago's attempt to intimidate as he instead glanced out over the destruction of the battle around them. Boats lain in ruins, weapons stuck into the frost covered rock beneath their feet, dragons circling overhead as if unsure with what to do with themselves now that their former Alpha was dead. Even now, Drago knew that there was no real danger to him, even with a Night Fury staring him down only a few feet away. He would let the boy speak. Just to see what he could muster up.  
"All of this loss. And for what?" the Viking exclaimed, his arms gesturing over the scorched ruins of the battle. "To become unstoppable? To rule the world?"  
So an attempt at peace, it seemed. Drago almost seemed to lose interest, the boy's words fading into the background as he observed his and his Alpha's handiwork. It wouldn't be long before all of Berk would be lain in ruins like this. The perfect solution to those who would dare to ally themselves with the dragons. Yet still, his foe still protested against him.  
"Dragons...they are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together".  
The words rang in Drago's ears like an earache. Such affection for these dangerous demons that had destroyed his home, his life. He had to chuckle to himself again about how soft and naive this boy was to the real world, to the reality of these beasts he was vainly trying to protect. He'd show him, turning in place and unhooking the straps of leather that held his prosthetic arm to his body.  
"Or tear them apart..." he responded, voice gruff and unforgiving as he noticed the young man become visibly taken aback by his injury. Something they both had in common, losing a piece of themselves to these monsters. To Drago, it has just been more than his arm. "See? I know what it's like to live in fear" he spoke, reattaching his arm as he began to circle the youth like he was bestowing some great wisdom to him, like a favor. "To see my village _burned_. My family taken. But even as a boy left with nothing, I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world."  
"Then why a dragon army?" the boy asked him, his question accented by the rumbling of his Night Fury in a threatening growl. Drago smirked at his simple answer.  
"Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons."  
"Or maybe you need dragons to conquer _people_. To control those who follow you. And to get rid of those who won't."  
This one seemed so noble in his efforts. But he certainly wasn't stupid, leaving Drago to feel something close to impressed at his foe's deductions.  
"Clever boy" he growled under his breath. The boy continued his vain pleas despite them falling on deaf ears.  
"The world wants peace. And we have the answer back on Berk." Drago couldn't believe that. Not when the young man's dragon was taking slow steps towards him with a constant threatening rumble so impressive it made the ground beneath his feet vibrate. He spoke of peace yet was being eyed up by a monstrosity such as that? Even so, the dragon showed such raw power when it came to protecting his 'tamer'. It almost made him wonder what the Night Fury would be capable of if it didn't hold itself back at the youth's orders. Which gave him a rather good idea. A deliciously satisfying idea. As the plan began to manifest itself in Drago's head, the boy tried to break his concentration.  
"Just...let me show y-"  
"No!" Drago snapped, cutting him off before he could finish. "Let _me_ show _you_..."

Before Hiccup could even respond, Drago began to scream. A roar akin to the most hardy of battle-hardened warriors that made his very core twist from it's savagery. The madman began to swing his weapon around in the air, the resonance of the metal slicing through it so easily only adding to the feeling of nausea in Hiccup's stomach as each swing made its way in circles around Drago's head. As if on cue, the Viking suddenly picked up on a dull hum to his left, a horrendous crunching of ground beneath heavy feet as he realized that the Bewilderbeast was on the move. The great behemoth turned its attention towards its much smaller prey, its stare nothing like that of the former Alpha. Instead of seeing a protective gentleness, Hiccup could see nothing but a twisted form of rage in its eyes. What had Drago done to this creature to turn it so hateful and eager to serve? He took a few steps back, his own eyes unable to leave the chilling stare of the gigantic Alpha, even with Toothless continuing to growl behind him as if to provide some reassurance he wasn't as small as he felt right now.  
"No dragon can resist the Alpha's command." Drago hissed through gritted teeth. "So he who controls the Alpha...controls them all."  
The glinting spear in Drago's head ceased it's spinning and became still, it's sharp end pointed towards Toothless. The Night Fury backed away a step from the man just as a horrendous noise shook the air around him and Hiccup. The Alpha stared down at the smaller black dragon, its pupils narrowing to slits of black as the spines covering its head twitched at the deep bass shaking its way into the ground. At that very moment, Hiccup saw Toothless break into a fit of frantic spasms, the Night Fury's head head shaking with roars of protest as he fumbled around his feet like he'd lost his sense of balance.  
"Toothless?" Hiccup blurted aloud, a rising fear of alarm starting to show itself in his voice when his dragon didn't respond to him. "T-Toothless, you okay, bud? What's going on?" he continued, trying to keep his voice in that usual warm tone that he knew the Night Fury always responded to. Toothless didn't respond this time and only continued to writhe with snarls of frustration, almost as if he was in pain from the Alpha's frequency piercing into his ears.  
"Witness true strength. Strength of will over others."  
Drago's words were lost on Hiccup. What did he mean? What was he doing? A few passing seconds was all it took for Hiccup to get his answer as Toothless ceased his frantic body movements. The Night Fury's head became still before it raised up, refusing to turn around to face his human as Drago continued to speak. His voice was somehow able to cut through the resonance of the Alpha's call, a fact that only added to the sudden sense of dread that seemed to tell Hiccup was out of his depth.  
"In the face of it...you are _nothing._ " Drago whispered, his tone calm despite the sheer rage he had shown in his cries moments ago. The sharp end of his spear turned away from Toothless and swung through the air with a glint from the dimmed light of the sun through the clouds. And it landed pointing straight at Hiccup.

Right on cue, Toothless turned his head like an owl, his gaze gaunt and empty as his ear plates twitched at the constant vibration of the Alpha's orders. Now, to the young Viking's horror, Toothless was responding to _Drago's_ command. And he wasn't just responding to it, he was already starting to move towards Hiccup with intent, like he had been hypnotized into doing so. Hiccup stammered as he began to back away, the eyes of his best friend showing the same look of narrow slits against green as if to match the Alpha's own commanding presence.  
"W-What did he just tell you...?" Hiccup managed to say. Toothless didn't even make a sound or response. The dragon just continued to walk slowly towards him, that empty face showing no trace of the dragon he knew. Just this thing, a tool that did what it was ordered to do. Hiccup wasn't sure whether to be upset or petrified. Possibly a bit of both. He took another step back, his boots crunching into the ground as he watched the Night Fury bare his teeth in a savage growl than seemed to sync with those horrible resonances driving into the Viking's skull.  
"Toothless! Come on! What's the matter with you?" he pleaded, his eyes flicking back and forth between the Alpha and the advancing black dragon. He thrust an arm out in his usual calming gestures to get Toothless to back down but each slow step continued without hesitation.  
"No, no, no, no, come on, what are you doing? Knock it off! Stop!" Hiccup's voice cracked as he started to panic. His brain was starting run out of things to try. Nothing he knew about trying to control a dragon was working and it wasn't working on the one who knew him better than anyone. He couldn't have known that Toothless couldn't hear him. He couldn't have known that the dragon he knew had been buried beneath the surface of this control, the Alpha's sheer will spurring him on with a single command: destroy. It was the only thing running through the dragon's head and there was nothing Hiccup could do to break its hold.  
"Toothless, no! Toothless!" he begged, his head turning to look behind him as he saw a wall of ice make its way slowly towards him with every step back, the giant columns of frozen water having falling from the shards of the Sanctuary mere moments ago. And now they were to serve as the perfect trap. Drago snickered, not even looking at the sight at this point as Hiccup was backed into a corner. It wouldn't be long now before he struck a blow to Stoick deeper than any blade could manage. Toothless' wings outstretched as his deliberate steps towards the human pressed into the ground without fail.  
"Don't!" Hiccup cried, his eyes starting to sting as they welled with the beginning of tears, terrified that his best friend stared through his very being with such menace. Another snarl from Toothless' hung open jaws sent chills through his body, the memory of the first time they had met in the woods flashing before his vision. Toothless had shown mercy then. But there was no hint that it would happen this time. Hiccup stumbled, almost tripping over his prosthetic leg as he heard another voice from the distance scream his name.  
"Hiccup!"  
It sounded like his dad. He wasn't sure, he couldn't concentrate. He dare not try when Toothless was bearing down on him like this. He could only keep begging his dragon to stop, just as his eyes widened in horror at the glowing purple flame began to build at the back of the Night Fury's throat.  
"NO!"  
"Son!"  
The other person managed to break his attention long enough for him to turn away from Toothless.  
"Dad!" Hiccup screamed, his arm outstretched as if to tell his father to stay away. He could still control him, he could win Toothless back, he just needed to try harder. Stoick wasn't going to take that chance, already seeing the dim purple color begin to illuminate Hiccup's body. With his limbs aching at his rush to reach his son in time, Stoick threw himself forward towards Hiccup just as Toothless' throat constricted and sent out a speeding fireball towards them both.

It all happened so fast. Time seemed to move in slow motion for them both. As the scorching heat of Toothless' attack began to close in on them, Hiccup's thoughts begged him to try one last time to break through the Alpha's control. His mouth began to change into the shape of yelling Toothless' name, something to make the Night Fury stop even though the action had already been done.

 _'You'd never hurt him...you'd never hurt me...'_

* * *

Not a word more was spoken when a mighty explosion doused the scene in thick black smoke. Toothless' fire had shattered the wall of ice, sending pieces of it everywhere across the ground. Valka, having only been moments behind Stoick when he had started his run to stop the dragon, barely had a chance to catch her breath. Her heart almost stopped when she realized what had happened, her eyes trying to peer through the veil of black for a sign of any movement. She continued her frantic pace down the hills of snow, her footing slipping on the slippy surface the odd time just as the smoke finally began to blow away in the breeze. Both Stoick and Hiccup lay still on the ground, covered in shards of frozen material as Toothless just stood there, panting heavily. Smoke escaped from the sides of his jaws as he stayed completely still with that horrible expression. Nothing but a machine under Drago's wicked control, Valka knew all too well what that insane monster could've done. She swallowed the welling of fear in her throat as she tried to get closer, hoping that Toothless would remain docile for now to let her. She approached Stoick first, sliding to her knees as she tugged on his gigantic frame with a grunt of exertion.  
"Stoick!" she cried, pulling at his arm as he rolled onto his back. Her husband spluttered after a terrifying moment of laying still, coughing as if the smoke had collected into the back of his throat. He pushed himself up onto his elbows as he tried to make sense of what happened. He squinted, blinking his eyes as the blurry view of his wife's face came into view.  
"Val..." he said softly, trying to get back to reality. His mind slowly caught up with him as he came around, his paternal panic rising in his chest and outweighing any desire Stoick had to take on Drago. His head frantically turned around, hoping to see that he had been successful in his efforts to save his son. He soon found him only feet away.  
"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled, clambering his heavy frame to his feet as Valka followed him in an equally panicked state. The chief's gut was already twisting as he rested his gaze on the sight of his son's contorted body strewn beneath heavy blocks of ice. He hurried to Hiccup's side, tossing aside the chunks of material like paper as they fell to the ground in heavy thuds. He grabbed Hiccup's body and pulled him onto his back, shaking him roughly to rouse him from his lack of consciousness. As he did so, Stoick couldn't help but notice the grisly damage that had been left behind from the dragon's fire. His mind protested it, trying to ignore the gaping wound in his boy's stomach that hadn't been properly cauterized and was leaking crimson to the ground, the smell of burning flesh, the sickening sounds of mangled bone against muscle when he was moved. Stoick felt numb even contemplating the thought, but it was already creeping into his mind.  
"No...son, you wouldn't. You're not doing this to me again! You..." he stammered, shaking Hiccup again more desperately as he still didn't get a response. "Hiccup! _Hiccup!_ "  
Valka knelt besides them both and leaned her head down against Hiccup's chest. Her eyes were wide with panic, listening for a sign, something, _anything_ to show he was alright.

She didn't get one. Her body heaved in shock as she covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes filled with tears, even as her clothing began to stain red from being so close to her son's injuries.  
'No...no, it...' she started, the sentence losing strength the more it went on. Valka had always been one to cling to hope despite the evidence. Back when she remained on Berk, she clung to the idea of peace. And here, her mind was desperately trying to cling on to the idea of her son being alright. But in the end, it all became too much for her to delude herself any longer. Valka let out a cry as she sank herself over Hiccup's body, her back heaving up and down with her sobs as the realization of what had happened began to wash over Stoick as well. The words he wanted to say were lost to him, his thoughts no longer capable of thinking what they were supposed to be. All he could muster was getting his gigantic arms to cradle all of his family close together as he too began to weep.  
'Hiccup...' he whispered, trying to remain brave for his wife's sake. The guilt was making it hard to. If he had been just a little faster, if he had stopped Hiccup from trying to confront that damned madman in the first place properly, then...maybe it would've been him instead. It _should've_ been him instead. Stoick could barely even notice the sounds of the other dragon riders landing nearby now that Drago had left. To where, Stoick couldn't guess. He didn't want to. He didn't even look up. All he could do was stare down at his son's still face. Hiccup's cheeks were wet. Stoick couldn't tell if it was because he had lost his life in fear of his best friend...or because his father's tears were falling onto him.

As the giant beast responsible for the act began to turn away at Drago's command, its attention was broken from Toothless. It didn't have a use for him anymore and the Night Fury's threatening stance from before shrank down to normal. Toothless shook his head, grimacing as the noise of the Bewilderbeast finally ceased and left him free to his own thought. His eyes returned to normal, squinting and blinking back to the real world as he tried to figure out what had happened. Where was Hiccup? The last thing he had remembered was the pair of them facing off against that nasty dragon trapper. The next thing he knew, he had been...overwhelmed by this awful presence. He didn't even know what it was, he just knew it had frozen his thoughts behind a veil. He remembered feeling rage and anger and the need to kill, but he didn't know why. The dragon crooned, feeling worry rise within him when he didn't initially see Hiccup standing there to comfort him with his words as he usually did. Hiccup always did that when he was worried and it always soothed him. But there was no sign of his human anywhere. And it was then that Toothless noticed the figures crowding around something. Both Hiccup's father and mother were there, Astrid and the other riders were there and Hiccup...  
Toothless' eyes turned wide, suddenly racing forward to try and see what was happening. Was he there? Was he OK? Even as he approached them, Toothless had to note that the Vikings were all quiet, his ear plates twitching to try and pick up on anything they were saying. They didn't speak a word. Only muffled sobs reached the dragon's ears as his front paw touched the ground not too far away from them. Stoick heard the footstep crunch into the ice and finally raised his head from his grief stricken trance. He knew who that footstep belonged to and raised his body up with a ferocious snarl of his own. Valka watched in shock as Stoick's brow scowled harshly and he stood, his eyes almost wild as the rage filled his words. He was yelling louder than Toothless had ever heard him do before.  
"NO! Get away from him!" Stoick screamed, the power of his voice making the Night Fury flinch from the sheer volume alone. "Y-YOU did this! You _demon_ , you...!" he continued, his voice breaking under the strain of the situation as he raised his fist above his head like he was going to strike. Toothless whined, taking a step back at Stoick's words. Valka raised an arm up towards her husband's hand, pushing her head into it as her own voice threatened to fail through her tears.  
"I-It's not his fault...you know that..." she murmured, trying to be the voice of reason. Stoick's angry expression faltered. He sighed out a sob, sinking to his knees once more as another tear slipped over his burly features. He knew his wife was right. This poor creature was nothing more than a tool to Drago. Blaming him for this wouldn't change anything. Toothless hummed again in puzzlement, glancing between them both as he seemed confused as to what they were blaming him for. They were so angry, so sorrowful...had he done something wrong? Where was Hiccup? The dragon began to feel angry himself, growling in frustration that they wouldn't tell him where Hiccup was as his front leg stamped into the ground. It wasn't until the Night Fury finally directed his eyes at the crumpled bundle between the two Vikings that he felt an awful chill run through him. The same one that had run through him when they had faced the Red Death and when Hiccup had been initially kidnapped by Valka's dragons. The small amounts of red liquid pooling at his paws were more than enough to make that chill hit even harder. Toothless let out a panicked noise as he realized that the bundle was his Hiccup.

He rushed to Hiccup's side, his legs slipping on the ice and blood and making him stumble over himself. He didn't waste a moment even as he fell, his head bobbing down and nudging into the Viking's side with an insistent rumble to get him up again. He growled insistently, just like he had done the first time Hiccup had lain unconscious all those years again.

 _'Get up. Come on, get up!'_

He batted him gently with his paws, mirroring their play fights to try and get him 'fighting' back. The Night Fury soon found himself freezing when warm moisture coated his claws in a red color. Toothless whimpered, worriedly looking between Stoick and Valka for some sort of answer.

 _'Why isn't he waking up? Wake him up!'_

They met the dragon's wordless inquiry with the same look. Eyes red and dry from their tears, a general numbness about their being. Toothless' entire body went slack. His ear plates sank downwards across his head, his wings impacting onto the floor as if they had lost the strength to hold themselves upright. Genuine fear began to flood his senses as he pushed at Hiccup, nuzzling that limp arm over and over again.

 _'No, you get up now! Get up right now, Hiccup!'_

The humans surrounding him could only watch as the Night Fury vainly, desperately tried to wake up his human, pushing at him with both of his claws now with more frustrated and insistent growls over and over. Again he kept his nudging and nuzzling going, his nose starting to turn as red as his paws as the dragon's crooning became more anxious. Valka's heart broke all over again at seeing such a beautiful creature be in such distress. She had never seen such behavior before from a dragon. Yet alone for a human. The fact that it only showed the bond her son had had with Toothless made it all the harder to face. She bit her lower lip and held out a hand, placing it on the Night Fury's forehead to stop his movements. Their eyes met. Toothless' mouth hung open as he whimpered again, though his 'voice' seemed to break at doing so. The dragon's pupils dilated, his eyes becoming shiny in the dim light of the battlefield.

 _'No, he...he's fine. I protect him, I always do. I protect him...'_

And it was then that Toothless saw the wounds. The way they smoldered and burned, the way the stench of decaying flesh hit his senses enough to make his nostrils flare. It was then that he realized his own mouth still felt warm like he had just used his fire. As the connections were made and the truth hit like a blow from a Viking's axe, Toothless felt like his very heart was collapsing in on itself, unable to stop the moisture building in his emerald eyes.

 _'My Hiccup...he's...he's not...'_

He hadn't protected Hiccup at all. It hadn't been Drago. It hadn't even been the Alpha. Toothless knew he had done this. Valka bowed her head, her hand slowly withdrawing from Toothless' head as she surrendered to her own grief once more. The Night Fury looked between all the humans, even the other riders stood feet away as they all seemed the same. Astrid has sunk to her own knees besides Toothless, the tears freely flowing to the ground as she clenched her fists in rage at Drago, threatening to tear through her own clothing. That madman had managed to do what Toothless had thought to be impossible.

 _'Please...please, you can't be gone...! I'm begging you...'_

And it was at that moment that something happened that no other dragon had done before or since. As tears rolled over his scaled cheeks and he shifted his body close to his human with one more pathetic nuzzle, the Night Fury raised his head upwards to the sky.

And Toothless howled.

It was a sound that made everyone shudder from its tone and power. A howl that was infused with pain and longing all at once, breaking in its sustain as Toothless' back heaved in breaths and stammered noises. Yet no matter how loudly the Night Fury forced his lungs to cry, no matter how they burned at the exertion of volume like it would wake his friend, his closest companion in this world...it was no use. The dragon grew quiet, his noises reduces to heaves and humming noises that could only be the draconic equivalent of crying. He gently rested his head upon his human's body as he continued to cry, not even able to summon up the anger over Drago to take action or pursue. Toothless could only stare at his human's face. The way that those eyes used to shine as they looked at him, so full of love and warmth. The Night Fury would never see that again. The dragon's front legs curled under the boy's body, pulling it against his black underside as his scales touched Hiccup's skin. Neither Stoick or Valka tried to stop him, holding each other as they too were lost to sorrow. Toothless' cheek brushed against Hiccup's forehead. He felt so cold to touch. No longer warm like his embrace usually was. Had been. It was just lifeless.

And Toothless knew it was because of him. He had killed his human. His Hiccup. And he had nothing but his grief left.

* * *

As Drago Bludvist walked away towards his Bewilderbeast, using his hook to climb atop one of its giant tusks, he glanced back at his work as that black beast roared to the sky. He had done the damage. With a broken dragon, a broken Stoick and the great Dragon Master laid to rest, he didn't see a point in sticking around. As powerful as the Alpha was in forcing the others to follow its command, the Night Fury was useless without a rider to operate its tail. Drago was in no mood to deal with a straggler who couldn't fly. Most importantly, it would no longer be a threat to him without its rider.

Drago sneered, raising his weapon into the air as he called on his men to move. The ships began to pull away, the rest of the dragons circling over the new Alpha's head. Now all that lay ahead was Berk.


	3. Proposition

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **3.** _ **Proposition**_ _: Stoick isn't sure how to approach this. Gentle and careful approaches to anything have never sat right with him. But he knows that Hiccup is ready to be a chief. Hiccup disagrees._

* * *

The morning breeze seemed to sing as it winded its way between the homes of Berk. The faint shimmering of frosty crystals on the grass seemed to illuminate the ground as the sun began to peek itself over the horizon. Mornings like this were always bitterly cold, but they would at least gradually warm up further into the day it got. Weather was the least of Berk's worries anyway as the village had been through tough times over the past few years. Thanks to the efforts of the 'Pride Of Berk', the Viking home had become a beacon of peace in a world that didn't seem to like the idea. Dragons lived among them as neighbors and friends, though it hadn't been easy to reach that point. Still, the recent times had borne spectacular fruit with inventions and facilities designed to accommodate everyone properly to live in harmony. Berk had never been better. However, it was common knowledge that everyone knew that they weren't particularly safe either. The fact that the island was no longer bound in place by water and their slow moving ships meant that many dangers had shown themselves from the outside world. The Outcasts, the Berserkers, plenty of people had tried to take Berk's treasures and dragons from them. For all Berk knew, every single one of them was still out there, plotting their next move in retaliation for their defeat at the hands of their dragons. Still, it was no reason for the majority of the Vikings to be concerned. With a strong chief and equally strong dragons on their side, the residents of the island rested easily in this crisp morning. So easily in fact that not many were awake to see this sunrise, unsurprising given how early the in the day it was. Except for two that is.

Stoick the Vast was sat in the living space of his house, a mug of hot broth keeping his hands warm from the cold seeping in from the cracks in the house's walls. The fire was properly lit about a foot away from him, as much as half of it was obscured from his view thanks to his dragon Skullcrusher's large frame. He hadn't been able to sleep very well last night. It was something that had surprised him since he thought insomnia-driven evenings were long gone by his age. Back in his youth when his father first made him chief, there were plenty of them thanks to the pressure, sure. But Stoick hadn't had one since until this particular issue had cropped up into his mind. And that was why currently sat opposite to him was Gobber, a mug of similar warm liquid attached to his prosthetic arm. Though the former blacksmith and dragon dentist of the island had been very grumpy about being asked over for a conversation this early in the morning, he was currently alert with a brow raised higher than Stoick had ever seen it. It was like what the chief had asked him for advice on was sheer lunacy. Maybe in a way it was.  
"So, let me get this straight, Stoick" Gobber started, taking another swig of his drink to warm his insides up from the morning cold and his senses from the madness he was hearing. "You mean to tell me that today, of all days just before one of the biggest Dragon Races we've ever staged, _which he is a favorite to win_ , you're going to tell Hiccup you're making him...?"  
"Shh!" Stoick suddenly interrupted, motioning a hand towards the upper floor of his house where his son was currently still sleeping. Even if he wasn't, his father didn't want him to hear. Gobber still wasn't impressed by the idea, his voice low and quiet as he carried on.  
"...chief? I know you've been thinking about a retirement, but I didn't think you were going senile as well!"  
"If there's ever going to be a time, why not when Berk is most prosperous? And why wouldn't he be ready? He's proven himself, Gobber. He's made our home a better place, he's led the Dragon Training Academy for years and saved us countless times! A chief needs a successor like Hiccup" Stoick reasoned.  
"Considering that chieftains only used to be succeeded when their successors killed them, I'm drifting more towards it being physically impossible to pull off."  
"Gobber..."  
"What?" Gobber replied, tweaking his mustache with a free hand, convinced that it was starting to become a little stiff in the freezing air. "I'm just saying that's how it's always been."  
"It won't be like that. Berk has changed and so can our traditions" Stoick said firmly. "I'll guide him when he starts, of course. But Hiccup has come a long way since all those years ago. I never would've thought about him taking up the responsibility in the first place if I didn't trust him to be able to handle things on his own. I've been thinking this over for weeks now, Gobber. I've made the decision, he's ready."  
"Or is it more you've made the decision _for_ him?" Gobber pondered, scowling a little bit. "Don't think I haven't noticed all of those nice things you've been saying around him lately, like you're doing 'honey and the hatchet' all over again!" Stoick rolled his eyes at this argument being brought up, though Gobber wouldn't be stopped in his rambling. "You know he won't like it, so you're trying to make it easier to deal with. But he's got that stubbornness of doing what he knows from you. With that map he's been making, a Night Fury and all that energy, a Viking his age is not going to be persuaded to toss all that aside with forceful words."  
"I think I can trust my son to realize that Berk is more important than a map!" Stoick scoffed, the grip around his mug making its surface groan from the added pressure. Gobber frowned.  
"Not to him, it isn't. Not right now." Stoick was actually made to be silent for a moment there. Gobber didn't have many serious moments, but they usually were worth listening to when they happened. The chief ran a hand through his beard with an acknowledging sigh, slowly realizing that his own stubborn nature wasn't making this easy on him or Hiccup. He'd asked Gobber for advice on it after all. Stoick wasn't sure what was stranger. The fact that he didn't know how his son would react or the fact he was relying on someone else to tell him instead. Gobber himself gave a look of concern as he leaned a little close in.  
"Answer me this. What made you think you should make him chief now?" Stoick didn't give an immediate response to the question, his heavy eyes glancing between the fire and his mug. He didn't like the idea of admitting this.  
"Because times have changed, Gobber" Stoick eventually managed to say. "It's all well and good having a chief like me, one our ancestors wanted all of to us to be in times of war, but with dragons and Vikings alongside each other properly for the first time in our history, I thought...maybe it's time to pass that responsibility on to someone who can handle this peace better than I can."  
"Think you're too set in the old ways, eh?" Gobber summarized, shaking his head with a light chuckle. "You know, you're not passed your prime yet, Stoick. You've managed 5 years with all of the challenges of the dragons and invaders and still come out on top. We all have roles in this new way of life. I mean, look at me! Never thought my good ol' dad would appreciate me being a dentist, but here we are. You've still got some chief left in you too."  
"Aye, maybe I do. But that doesn't matter. If Hiccup was the one to change us, then I feel it's also right that he leads us as well. He'll come around to it, he's been wanting people to follow his way of thinking enough as it is. The question is how do I really say any of this? You know what he's like when it comes to listening to me."  
"I could say the same about you to him. If you ask me, not issuing it like an order would be a good start" Gobber suggested.  
"So if I can't bestow it upon him, do I just ask him nicely? Only if he has the time to spare?" Stoick grumbled sarcastically, seeming a little annoyed this would require a more delicate approach than he was used to. Gobber nodded his head with a trace of a smile.  
"You can't force it upon him, Stoick. I know 'gently' doesn't fall into your vocabulary, but Hiccup would appreciate it if you tried."  
"Gently? A chief needs to be firm with what he needs from his people and..."  
"...should know how to best give them responsibility. Including those who don't conform to the usual hooha of Viking life" Gobber said, cutting Stoick off. "You know how it is with Hiccup. He hates confrontation. So you have to treat it as though it isn't one. Which is a little difficult for you, admittedly, but..."  
Stoick huffed. Gobber had a point. He still hadn't truly grasped the way Hiccup thought even though their relationship had become stronger over the last couple of years. It took him a few moments to mull it over, but he eventually nodded his head, reaching his arm over to pat the other Viking on the shoulder.  
"Well, Gobber, I guess I'll have to try. I just hope Hiccup'll take it well."  
"It'll be fine, Stoick!" Gobber yelled, suddenly clamping his mouth shut as he remembered they were supposed to be quiet. With a sheepish smile, he carried on. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Hours passed since Stoick and Gobber had their rest of the village was slowly coming to life as the sun began to climb higher into the sky. Thankfully, it had brought a decent temperature with it. As for Stoick, the chief had thought it best to wait until Hiccup woke up naturally to approach him about his impending succession. His plan was just to try and throw it out as a possibility, maybe ask about what his son thought about his future with that as a possibility. Who knows, it may even give him something to strive towards in the upcoming race, an inspiration almost. But maybe that was being too hopeful.  
 _'Just remember, be positive about it, Stoick. Treat it like a grand opportunity, not an order.'_ he mentally told himself, preoccupying with a simple task of polishing his helmet. It was just a waiting game now.

* * *

Upstairs, Hiccup was enjoying a rather rare lie in. Lots of rest before a race was always necessary and he would have Thor strike him down before he let Astrid beat him again. Though he might let her score a few points again, just to give her a chance to not be completely trashed. He began to stir from his sleep when he felt a nudging at his arm. He groaned, batting away the source of that nudging to turn away from it and keep in his pleasant dreams and warm bed. It was only when he felt a rush of breath run over his hair and a more insistent noise reach his ears that he realized who it was. The young Viking summoned up the courage to open his eyes and cast aside his blankets, a small shiver from the initial feeling of cold quickly being replaced with a warm bulking presence that lunged over his body with an affectionate nuzzling against his chest.

"H-Hey, Toothless, I'm happy to see you too..!" he chuckled with a yawn, running his hands over the Night Fury's head to try and calm him down. He supposed this was a better way to wake up than having the dragon bang on the rooftops like he used to do. Toothless cooed to him, tilting his head and continuing to push at his body as if he was trying to shove the Viking out of it onto the floor. He eventually managed to do it, Hiccup's body landing with an almighty thud on the wooden ground when Toothless' sheer strength shoved him to the side. Before he had a chance to get up, the Night Fury's head was rubbing over his front, those big claws keeping him pinned down as Hiccup laughed.  
"Come on, bud, how are we supposed to win the race if you keep me hostage all morning?" Hiccup yelped, batting at the dragon's arm with weak punches. Toothless happily batted back at each tap with opposing claws, making his rider realize that he was fighting a losing battle against trying to keep his dragon focused for their racing.  
"We can settle this 'war' later, bud" Hiccup smirked, nudging the Night Fury's chin as a silent promise they could play later. Toothless relented with a snort, taking a few steps away to allow his human to get to his feet. Hiccup did just that, stretching his arms skywards with a yawn as he ruffled his bedhead hair out of his eyes. He found his clothes hung loosely over the edge of the bed, grabbing them with am outstretched hand and heading behind a wooden shutter in the corner to get changed away from prying eyes. The usual racing gear seemed fitting for today, as well as their map and exploration equipment for afterwards. With one of the biggest Dragon Races Berk had ever seen happening today, Hiccup wanted to impress. Not that he had much doubt when it came to winning, Toothless would be able to wipe the floor with the other riders thanks to their training, the lap times around the island spoke for themselves if he did say so himself. As he finished strapping on his shoulder pads and tying up his one good boot, Hiccup re-entered the room with Toothless' saddle under his arm to find the dragon sniffing over his desk and the drawings scattered about it. Including the large map of the Archipelago that had kept them busy for months. The Viking smiled as he neared his dragon, scratching behind one of Toothless' ear plates as they both admired their work.  
"Been to a lot of places there, huh, bud?" Hiccup queried, eliciting a rumble from the Night Fury. "I was thinking we could add some more to it once the race is done. Maybe over here..." he continued, pointing to an obviously blank space in the lower left. "Could find some new dragons lurking in there to show off to. Just gotta make sure we beat Stormfly, right?" Toothless nodded his head enthusiastically, his whole body wiggling at the chance to race and then fly with a happy jumping about. Hiccup laughed and gently held out one of his hands to touch Toothless' snout, making him become still once more in order to attach their riding gear.  
"OK...in goes one leg, in goes another..." the Viking murmured to himself as he connected the flying rods and pedals together to operate the tail, hooking Toothless' front legs through the hoops around the front as much as the Night Fury fidgeted from the near ticklishness of it all. As Hiccup tested the fin by extending it outwards and in again, both of the pair's ears perked when the familiar chirps and growls of Terrible Terrors began to sound out from the rooftops, muffled as they were. Guessing that Gothi must've gotten into the habit of using the little green beasts as morning calls, Hiccup was at least glad to see he hadn't overslept too much. He leaned over to his desk and grabbed their masterpiece of a chart, tucking it under the leather armor strapped to his torso.  
"Come on, Toothless, think it's time we got somethin' to eat. Gotta be all filled up for all that race!" The mention of food seemed to make Toothless giddy once again at the idea, the Night Fury pouncing onto the wooden beams of the house's roof to then jump his way down to the ground floor. And he managed to do so this time without knocking anything over, much to Hiccup's pleasant surprise.

As he made his normal way down the stairs with heavy thunks of his metal foot against the steps, Hiccup's brow raised a little as he saw that his father was already awake. That didn't usually happen thanks to the nature of some of his early flights with Toothless, but it wasn't a bad thing by any means.  
"Oh, Dad. You're up early" he spoke up with a smile, heading off to the side wall to get out some fish and other utensils from their containers for their breakfast. Hiccup gently swatted Toothless' ear plate before the dragon had chance to stick his head into the basket of fish, much to Toothless' annoyance, and carried over the armful of items with a cluttering noise to the table. Stoick was broken from his trance of polishing his helmet when he realized he was being spoken to, Skullcrusher giving a low vibration of acknowledgement to his rider's son as well.  
"Oh, morning son. Yeah, I was just...you know, keeping the helmet looking good. Maintained and all." Hiccup's brow perked up again as he set down a plate on the table and some fish on a skewer above the fire, giving a hand gesture to Toothless that he had to wait to be fed. As the Night Fury settled into an obedient sitting position behind him, Hiccup had to ponder the strangeness of his father's answer. He knew the helmet was important, but for some early morning cleaning?  
"I suppose there is that to do...I guess" he mused, sitting at the table as his father took up a place opposite him.  
"Looking forward to the race?" Stoick asked, trying to change topic and avoid suspicion. Hiccup seemed happy to do so.  
"Oh, yeah, we're more than ready! Toothless has gotten his lap times even better thanks to some new tail modifications, I've fixed all the aerodynamics of my suit. Astrid's not gonna know what hit her, especially after last time!"  
"Weren't you the one who gave her those extra points before?"  
"Hey, it wan't my fault, I thought it was going for my basket, not hers! And then it just kinda...fell in." Stoick chuckled, raising a hand up with a knowing wink to his son's and Astrid's relationship. As a father, he did have to occasionally be a little bit embarrassing, something that oddly had been happening the other way round for years until peace with the dragons. Hiccup huffed with a flustered expression and offered a smile to Stoick, just as the aroma of cooked fish began to brush past his nose. He had to admit the pair of them had gotten on much better in recent weeks than any time Hiccup could remember in recent memory, something that made his chest feel warm on the inside. A much needed warmth given these consistent freezing conditions every morning. Hiccup leaned over and took a couple of skewers from the fire, letting them land onto his plate before handing off some of the roasted food to Toothless and Skullcrusher to share. The dragons happily accepted the gift and picked out the pieces they wanted between themselves, just as Hiccup took a bite for himself. Stoick let his son eat in peace for a few moments in silence before he re-positioned his now double polished helmet back on his head. The Viking opened his mouth to speak before pausing, getting to his feet like it was some sort of announcement or speech. Hiccup immediately froze at seeing it, pausing mid-chew.  
"Uh, Dad...?"  
"Son, we, uh...we need to talk." Hiccup could sense what was coming. The dragons had broken something, hadn't they? The twins had blown up one of yak sheds, maybe? Or maybe it was because Toothless had figured out how to get free food with just a look, so much so that Hiccup had fallen for it more than once? Maybe closer to five times than just once... He instantly launched into a ramble, swallowing his mouthful of fish as his skewer fell to his plate. This was his best defense against getting into trouble after all.  
"Now Dad, I know that maybe you've noticed some fish and stuff has been going missing from the docks and you may possibly be thinking that it's me being soft on Toothless or something, but I swear that it's not me. It was probably just some Terrible Terrors wanting to steal something, you know what they're like in their groups!" he blurted out with a forced smile. Stoick just blinked as one of his brows twisted upwards in confusion. The uncomfortable silence between them made that smile falter. "O-OK, so maybe I snuck one or two teensy little fish for Toothless, but he can just give you that big eyed look and..."  
"Easy, Hiccup, you're not in trouble" Stoick finally said, almost chuckling at the nervousness of his son. "I just wanted to tell you something, that's all."  
"Oh...?" Hiccup pondered, his former worried expression now being replaced by one of inquiry after a tremendous sigh left his chest. Stoick could still be intimidating, even for a 20 year old Viking. "What is it?" Again, Stoick paused, repeating his internal mantra of positive and encouraging in his head to make this smoother.  
"Well...you're the Pride Of Berk, son. And I just wanted to say that I couldn't be prouder of what you've done for us. Whether it's in those races or fighting off the Outcasts, you've done wonderful things for this island." Hiccup's previous warm feelings began to falter a little bit. His dad had been rather complimentary about almost all of his work lately. Whether it was the village fire prevention systems or stables or his continuous support of the Academy, Hiccup had noticed it in abundance more than usual these last few weeks. As much as he had enjoyed the attention and seeing his father genuinely happy over what he did, it had felt a little out of place at times. But he had just brushed it off as Stoick being...well, Stoick. Not exactly the most emotionally intelligent chief after all. But now, the young Viking began to see the warning signs almost immediately. When praise started coming out without much provocation despite being prefaced with a 'need to talk', it couldn't end well.  
"This isn't another 'honey and the hatchet' kind of thing is it? 'Cause I'm actually kind of, uh..allergic to honey and...hatchets..." he mumbled at his father warily. The larger Viking shook his head with as warm a grin as he could manage. He kept telling himself to keep it friendly. Not a confrontation, just a chance to talk.  
"Oh, no, nothing like that. I just wanted you to know that I've been thinking about what you've done. You're all grown up into a proper Viking now, just like I knew you would."  
"Well,...thanks, Dad. I've just been doing what you asked me to."  
"And that's good. Because...well, it's about your future, Hiccup. With what you've achieved with the dragons, something no-one else in Viking history has done, I couldn't ask for a better successor. So..."  
"Waitwaitwait..." Hiccup interrupted, holding up a hand to slow Stoick down. "Successor? Dad, are you...?"  
"In fact, no chief of _any_ tribe could ask for a better successor!" Stoick continued, his pride at the imagining of Hiccup leading the others starting to make his initial intentions of quiet talking fade away from his thoughts. The chief didn't really know any other way to be positive and encouraging without nearly yelling about it. Forget honey and the hatchet, this was just going to be honey and lots of loud honey. Hiccup was almost flinched at the increase in volume and the implications at the mention of succession.  
"D-Dad, I think I know what you're getting at, but..."  
"So in the wake of recent events-"  
"Dad..?"  
"-I've decided to name you-"  
"I can't possibly..."  
"-the next chief of Berk!"  
"...do what you're...wait, _what?!_ "  
"Imagine it, Hiccup! The entire island under your care and command, Viking and dragons united against all of our enemies. People like Dagur or the other Outcasts wouldn't dare try to harm us again. Especially not with a Night Fury at your side all the time, eh?" Stoick proudly declared, gesturing to Toothless who had raised an ear plate up at hearing himself get mentioned. "Now of course, there's no need to rush into anything or give me an answer straight away, a good chief takes his time and assesses all the possibilities before making a decision. Which you'll learn about in some lessons I'll help you with. But you'll do fine, son! I've already thought ahead..."

Hiccup was just sat there, mouth agape at the prospect he was struggling to comprehend. As his father continued to ramble and lose all sense of delicately handling the situation, the daunting image of running the _entire island_ began to make Hiccup feel ill. The prospect of the rest of his breakfast also began to disagree with him.  
 _'The chief...?'_ he thought in a panic _. 'I...no, I can't be chief, not now! I'll be restricted to the village, I'll lose all the work we've done on the map a-and...I won't be able to fly Toothless...'_ Trying to become a Viking had been challenging enough on its own over the years, but an entire village with him as Berk's _chief_? Hiccup couldn't possibly do that. He'd never done a chief-ly thing in his life! Everyone knew chiefs went to war, commanded armies, made grand speeches, built structures by their own will and strength alone and were a beacon of confidence for Vikings everywhere. Hiccup felt like he had done almost everything in the world apart from those specific things in order to get to where he was now. Stoick couldn't be serious, right? Unfortunately for Hiccup, the way he was still rambling on about how to structure their future lessons on the idea showed that he totally was.  
"Another thing you might want to think about is how to make the big announcement. Obviously, the village needs to be told well ahead of time so it can adjust accordingly and..."  
 _'Well, it's official. My dad's gotten desperate with his retirement plans. Or just plain crazy...'_ Hiccup thought to himself drly, his panicked expression darting between Stoick, who had since turned his back, and Toothless. Toothless had just finished licking his jaws at the conclusion of his meal when he noticed Hiccup frantically gesturing towards the door without a word. With a curious croon, the dragon took a few steps close to his human, only for Hiccup to shake his arm at the door even harder than before. They needed to leave. Hiccup slowly raised from his seat as Toothless crouched behind him, the Night Fury instinctively knowing their 'escape plan' as something they'd done hundreds of times before when things got a little sticky around Dad. Though this time, Toothless couldn't fathom as to why. Whatever it was, it had his rider spooked beyond normal. Hiccup hooked his good foot into the one of the pedals of the saddle as Stoick continued to lose himself in his imaginings of succession, waiting for just the right time to bail. He took it.  
"Well, Dad, it's been great, but I really need to get going to the race. You know, lots to do, places to see, things-to-do-other-than-being-chief-bye!" Hiccup's words were almost a jumble at their speed as Skullcrusher growled at seeing his fellow dragon take off. One of the young Viking's hand gestures made Toothless run for the door and at hearing heavy footsteps, Stoick spun around with a confused look just as he spotted the Night Fury's tail whip out to the other side of the door frame.  
"Wha-? Hiccup, wait!" he yelled, stomping his way outside just in time to see black wings beating down to the ground and darting off the edge of Berk's cliffs towards the sea. In a matter of moments, Toothless' outline was zooming across the surface of the ocean, the waves parting beneath them from the sheer force of their speed. Enough to win races for sure, and outfly a potentially angry father.  
" _Hiccup!_ " Stoick shouted. The boy was fast, that much Stoick knew, but it didn't help him in this situation. The older Viking cursed, slamming his fist into the door frame. He was just going to ignore his own father and his responsibility? Had he not just been singing praises about what Hiccup had done for the village? As much as the chief wanted to be angry at his son just disregarding the great honour of becoming chieftan, it was then that the dawning realisation of what he'd done crossed his thoughts. Hiccup probably felt like Gobber had said. Honey and the hatchet indeed, with more hatchet than he could probably deal with first thing in the morning. Now the chieftain could only be angry at himself for being too forceful.  
"Oh boy..." Stoick grunted to himself, slapping his own forehead for letting his ambitions get in the way of allowing Hiccup the choice himself. "So much for taking it gently." He sighed, letting his shoulders slump for a moment as he adjusted his helmet back to a proper orientation. He wondered what would happen next. He knew some sons of previous chieftans had had some pretty bad reactions to being told they were taking up the mantle of responsibility at first. Some had tried to fight their way out of it, others had run but had nowhere to run to. But none of them could beat escaping the island on a Night Fury to Thor knows where.

Still, maybe his son just needed some time to work this out. Even if he'd dumped this on Hiccup somewhat thick, Stoick was confident that a smart lad like him could come to a decision on his own. He'd explained the offer, now it was just a matter of what Hiccup would do with that information. Flying with his dragon always seemed to help him put his thoughts together better than anything else would, some 'me' time as Hiccup called it. Stoick's former grin partially returned as he noticed the other residents of the village start to head towards the race arena. He took a heart stroll himself and greeted his people as normal as if this morning meeting had never happened. He was almost a little glad that the burden of telling his son his upcoming duties had been lifted. Besides, it hadn't gone _that_ badly.

Hiccup would never miss a race. He'd be back in no time.

* * *

"Looks like we're missing the race today, bud!" Hiccup yelled over the roar of the wind, taking off his helmet from one of the saddle's side hooks and fastening it over his head to protect his eyes. "Just as high as you can take it, boy, today's going to be an exploring day!" Toothless, still utterly puzzled as to why they had left in such a hurry despite the hours of training they had put in to beat Astrid in the races, obeyed the command, though not without an obviously worried noise vibrating it's way to Hiccup's body. Hiccup patted the dragon's neck and held on tightly to the saddle handles.  
"It'll be fine, bud, we've got other things to worry about first. Like a new island or maybe trying out a new suit revision or two!" he reasoned. As far as he was concerned, none of that had happened. He'd never be chief this early, it'd take something pretty drastic to make him do it. His dad had plenty of years left, right? And right now, Hiccup was more preoccupied with getting as much space between him and the ground as possible.

That flight suit wasn't going to test itself.


	4. Birthday

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **4.** _ **Birthday**_ _: It's customary for a chief's birthday to go down as an annual holiday on Berk. Hiccup isn't sure what to expect thanks his history with birthdays, but he knows exactly what to do for someone who shares the occasion._

* * *

Hiccup grimaced looking over himself, his shoulders draped in a formal cloak of thick fur. He tugged at the metal plate fastening the cloak around his neck, feeling like the Night Fury emblazoned circle would cut into his skin from the sheer weight of the thing. He knew it had been tradition for chieftains to wear this sort of thing from what he had seen of the portraits in the Great Hall, but how had they managed to do so all the time? In addition to that, a belt similar to his father's own was worn across his waist, though it had had to be modified severely to actually fit him in the first place. His usual flying leathers had been replaced by the more plain red shirt and pants he had used to wear years ago. The reason for all this? Well, you couldn't show up to a formal event looking like you were going to escape it at any time. At least, that's what he'd been warned by his mother. Hiccup grunted as he finally was able to stop the constriction on his airway with another firm tug, clearing his throat. When he had woken up this morning, doing this wasn't what he had had in mind. On Berk, any excuse to have a holiday or day of celebration seemed to be taken all the time. Back in the days before the end of the dragon war, it had been a welcome relief for the people of the village to forget the fighting and troubles of their little world and lose themselves among good company and friends. It's why things like Snoggletog were almost sacred around these parts. Now, even years since that day when the dragons moved in, that tradition hadn't changed and it certainly wouldn't today. The chief's birthday in particular was held in high regard, the celebration focused on how their leader had matured and helped their people survive another year against the harshness of the world. Or so Gobber had explained the Hiccup when warning him about the fuss of today. Hiccup himself hadn't believed him and was now kicking himself over it.

Hiccup's past birthdays hadn't really been anything to write home about. Most of the time during the war, it seemed like they had been treated more as sighs of relief that he hadn't killed himself from his clumsiness rather than as a celebration as they were supposed to. That mentality had caused Hiccup to try and distance himself from the concept and play down the fact that the eve of his birth was something to be recognized. Even after making peace with the dragons, Hiccup had instinctively tried to spend the last few birthdays out of sight or fly away with Toothless for the day as a present for himself. However, now that he had been made the chief, it seemed like he hadn't really been given the chance this time. And that made him nervous. Not because of the fact he would have to face an entourage of people most likely cheering in his face all day. It was more because he wasn't sure what to expect. A proper celebratory birthday wasn't something he was used to, even now at the age of 21. Whether that was just surprising or maybe even a little bit pathetic, he couldn't say.

Hiccup glanced over his room. The morning had been quiet, even Valka and Cloudjumper seemed to have gotten up way before him to help the village prepare for the day. He could only imagine what a Stormcutter his size could be needed for, making his imagination run wild that there would explosions of hatching dragons and giant banners like Astrid's misguided attempts a few years ago. He shook himself back to reality as the cloak caught his neck again, grunting in frustration as having to adjust it once more.  
"Stupid thing..." Hiccup muttered under his breath. Valka had insisted this be worn since it would be the first birthday of his she had been there for and it was tradition for the chiefs according to Gobber. Whether or not Gobber was telling the truth, Hiccup would put up with it for his mother, but he hadn't promised not to complain internally. Once again clearing his throat, Hiccup turned his attention to Toothless. His beloved Night Fury was resting in his usual spot above his heated stones, his back rising and falling with every deep breath he took in his slumber. Hiccup couldn't help but smile to see it, a memory of the first time he had tried to get close to Toothless back in the cove crossing his mind. It seemed an age away, especially now that Toothless would never sleep without him nearby these days. That made him pause in thought. Was he really getting old enough to be nostalgic now? Oh boy. Brushing that aside, Hiccup was glad to see that Toothless hadn't woken and he had no intention of waking the sleeping dragon just yet. It would make things easier for his own plans to bear fruition. He took a few steps towards the Night Fury, kneeling down as quietly as he could manage to gently brush his fingertips over the ridges along Toothless' head. They seemed to have grown even bigger than before, the points on the edges nearly becoming sharp at this point. His other arm rubbed under the dragon's lower jaw, taking note of the gentle bumps that hinted new plates were starting to form there. From that alone, Hiccup knew Valka had been right when she had deduced Toothless' age from them, something he had managed to learn the more specific details of when he had asked. Each plate showed growth of just over 1 and a half years when they were fully formed (give or take a month or two) and despite how small they were, they had been able to confirm among themselves that Toothless and his rider were indeed the same age. Which only made today more important. As Toothless hummed at the touches to his head and shifted his wings for a moment to maintain the maximum level of comfort, Hiccup withdrew his hands to let his friend sleep properly. Now he had to pull off his own plans.

* * *

The door to the Haddock household opened to the outside world as Hiccup peeked around the corner. He'd half expected this to play out like when he woke up after the Red Death, a dragon would swoop by and catch him off guard. However, there were no jeering crowds, no masses of people waiting for him to venture outside like he had anticipated. To his luck, most of the village seemed to have already headed into the Great Hall, a bustle of activity easily audible from that direction despite being obscured by the houses.  
 _'Perfect'_ Hiccup thought. With a grin at his idea actually working as he intended, Hiccup slipped past the narrow gap of the door and shut it behind him as quietly as he could for Toothless' sake. He didn't quite sneak his way along, but he did tread lightly on the ground almost automatically, like he was anticipating half of Berk to pop up with a yelled 'surprise' from behind a house at any moment. His prosthetic glimmered in the morning sun as it pressed into the muddy grass, ruining the work he'd done the previous night. Yes, he'd even had to polish that for today at his mother's insistence, something he hoped was at least worth all the hassle of cleaning at least 5 different attachments thoroughly for it. With the coast seeming like it was clear, Hiccup finally broke into a run towards the docks. He had to be quick to grab his prize and reach the party in good time. Oblivious to the festivities nearly ready, he kept his eyes peeled for any form of ship sitting over the cliff edge, hoping for one in particular to have finally shown up as they had agreed to some weeks ago. As he neared the cliff that lead to the dock walkway, he recognized the sail of the only ship sitting there almost instantly. Once again, Hiccup couldn't believe his luck when it turned out the docks themselves were unmanned as well. He might actually be able to set this up properly! The young chief quickly made pace down the winding structure of wood to the docks, coming up to the side of the ship where its sole occupant should've been. Hiccup didn't see him straight away, assuming he had been obscured by crates and barrels.  
"Johann?" Hiccup inquired, his voice still hushed thanks to his mental state of not wanting to be noticed. "Johann, are you there?"  
"Oh, Master Hiccup!" a loud voice came booming back. "Oh, my favorite Viking of all the Vikings I've met!" Johann himself finally popped his head up, his hat slightly askew from his effort of rearranging his shipment. As he adjusted it back to normal, the trader noticed Hiccup doing gestures to keep quiet and he did so immediately with a nod. The pair of them had discussed this plan weeks ago when Johann had last sailed here, a small exchange of things that Hiccup had wanted to be delivered and stored away before he had chance to be dragged away by the rest of the village for his birthday. Johann gave a friendly smile, his voice noticeably subdued compared to before. "How time flies, eh? 21 years old and a chief to boot! You certainly have been busy, Master Hiccup."  
"Well, you know me. The entire world seems to want to keep me busy" Hiccup answered with a shrug of his shoulders, his gaze occasionally being averted to the dock walkways in case he had been followed. He was sure this was making him seem especially suspicious, but he didn't want to be interrupted before he could set up his idea for later. It mattered too much to him. He focused back on Johann just as the cloak once against caught against his neck, making him choke.  
"Uh, having trouble there?" Johann quipped.  
"Oh, no, I'm great, totally fine...!" Hiccup coughed, finally pulling the metal plate off his neck for the third time that morning. He needed to tweak this thing sooner or later. "That better be the only problem I have today..." he muttered to himself. "Anyway...did you get all that stuff I asked for? I know it was kinda out of the way and all."  
"Oh, sure as this ship sails, I did. Come aboard and take a look!" Johann replied, giving a waving motion with his hand to invite the young Viking aboard. Hiccup took the opportunity, jumping up onto the gangplank and into Johann's ship. The trader invited him over to a particular decent-sized bundle near the ship's cabin, tied up with ropes and fabric to keep the contents from view and (hopefully) safe.  
"Everything should be in here, sir. As much I would never pry as to what exactly this needed for, you do make it hard not to wonder!" Johann joked. Hiccup smiled coyly, showing that he wouldn't tell before seeming ecstatic at finally having what he needed in front of him.  
 _'This is so great! Now I just need to hide one of them, give the other stuff to Bucket and wait until after the party for...'_ Hiccup's thoughts were interrupted when Johann suddenly stepped in front of him wearing a smile of his own. A smile they seemed to scream 'payment' thanks to his nature as a businessman first and foremost.  
"Now, before I let you have them, you know it's only fair I ask for something to properly trade, Master Hiccup. That particular sea life you were looking at didn't come cheap! And neither did the paint for..."  
"Yeah, yeah, of course...uh, well, what do you want for it?" Hiccup asked. "I could give you some of these Zippleback gas canisters for defense or some of the latest tools we've made using dragon hide as an inspiration for toughness and durability. Maybe even some of the old dragon armor we took from Drago's forces?" Johann didn't seem impressed by the suggestions until a rather sly look crossed the chief's face. "Or I could let Snotlout and the twins look after you on a deserted island someplace. You know, for old time's sake." Johann's tune changed when he gave a sheepish smirk and stepped aside, gesturing his arms as if to present his request without any further hassle.  
"S-Say no more, Master Hiccup, far be it from me to stand in the way of what a chief needs!" Johann stammered. Hiccup couldn't help but feel a little smug at that. It felt just a little good to make Johann squirm after some of the problems surrounding his presence over the last few years. He leaned down onto his good knee and took away the fabric wrapped around his delivery, the contents itself split into two specific boxes of different sizes. He proceeded the grip them tightly, silently praying to himself that the cloak wouldn't be his downfall as he heaved his body upwards to carry the burden of their weight. Johann had at least outdone himself on getting a good catch on the larger box. He turned towards the gangplank and took steady, careful steps back upwards.  
"Pleasure doing business with you, Johann. Have safe travels!"  
"Uh, Master Hiccup?" Johann started, raising a hand. "If I may..."  
"I'm fine, really!" Hiccup interrupted. "I'll be able to manage just fi-AHH!"

To his misfortune, as Hiccup made his way back onto the dock and touched the wooden surface of the walkway, his prosthetic suddenly got caught in one of the gaps of the wooden planks, sending him flying forward. He cursed to himself as the package seemed destined to take the brunt of his impact against the ground, bracing himself for pain before he suddenly felt himself being supported. Hiccup grunted as the package was instead forced into his chest and had the wind knocked out of him, spluttering as he was shoved back onto his feet again. As he tugged on his caught prosthetic to get it free, his eyes suddenly locked onto what had saved him. Johann lowered his hand at seeing Hiccup had found what he was trying to warn the young Viking about. Hiccup himself instantly threw on a rather guilty looking expression, though trying to pass it off as a smile.  
"A-Astrid! Hey, Astrid, Astrid, hey! W-What are you...?" he started, trailing off when he laid eyes upon her properly. Astrid looked like he had never seen her before. Instead of her usual clothing that seemed equally suitable for flying and battle, she was now dressed in a dark red dress-like outfit, a belt of spikes and skulls wrapped around her waist. A furred hood smaller than her usual choice was fastened around her neck with a skull themed plate similar to his own cloak and her ponytail now trailed down her back with extra braids instead of being off to the side. The headband remained, but of a darker shade than usual. She looked frankly stunning, leaving Hiccup a little dry in the mouth at what he was trying to say. Astrid herself didn't seem too thrilled at the prospect she was adorning this garment, huffing and leaning forwards with a threatening expression.  
"Don't say a word. I'm only wearing this...thing because of my own parent's insistence for the first birthday of the new chief. So don't even..."  
"I think you look beautiful..." Hiccup managed to say, cutting her off. Astrid paused, her face softening as a trace of a smile seemed to cross her features. Hiccup's cheeks were already turning pinker than her own at this rate, prompting the young man to snap back to the topic at hand.  
"I-I mean, uh...wha-what are you doing here?"  
"Trying to find the one who is currently missing from his own birthday, actually" Astrid replied, snickering to herself at noticing her boyfriend was rather stuck. Hiccup froze for a moment at realizing he had taken longer than intended at getting his items before he eventually cleared his throat, flicking his eyes down towards his stuck appendage in a silent plea for help. Astrid knelt down and tugged at the leg with her greater strength, forcing it free from the gap and causing Hiccup to nearly stumble over himself again. He barely managed to keep his arms around his delivery when she spoke again.  
"Shouldn't it be other villagers getting last minute presents instead of you? What are you doing down here with Johann?"  
"Me?" Hiccup blurted out, shifting his arms to maintain his grip on his prize. "I was, uh...just wanting to get this stuff out of the way. You know, just some tiny things I wouldn't be able to get if I was thrown into the party so soon." Astrid didn't seem convinced, but simply smiled at Hiccup either way, taking half of the delivery with the larger box. Even in attire like this, she was still considered the more 'Viking' of the two by far, so naturally the heavier weight went to her. With a polite nod to Johann, she turned and invited Hiccup to follow her, the chief finding his footing properly again now he had less to carry.  
"This certainly is bulky for 'tiny', Hiccup. You never concoct plans tiny, not after all the time we've known each other." Hiccup didn't give a response straight away, his mind already occupied with what he needed to still do that day. Astrid turned her head over her shoulder, making them both wait until she got an answer. "You know can tell me, right? I know it must be pretty important for you to be missing your own birthday. Unless this isn't just some excuse to not be seen in that thing" she joked, pointing at the bulky cloak and how out of place it seemed to be when worn by him. Hiccup raised a brow at the irony of her statement.  
"Haha, yes, of course, you've found me out..." he retorted dryly. His expression turned serious as he got back on topic. "But, if you must know, I suppose it is important. I just...I just wanted to get this stuff and have it ready for later." Hiccup finally explained. "I was worried the big hooha was gonna mean I'd miss Johann's ship and then I'd have to wait who knows how long to get it."  
"But what's even in here?" Astrid asked, shifting the box in her arms around as if to get a better idea of what was inside them. It almost sounded like water sloshing. As for what was in the other one, she could only speculate.  
"They're gifts. Just not for me." Hiccup answered matter-of-factly, walking past her with an increased pace compared to before. Astrid seemed puzzled by the whole affair. Hiccup had his secretive antics over projects, but being so over 'presents' on a day for when he'd get them instead of give them was just plain odd. As if on cue, her partner seemed to sense her confusion.  
"Look, I'll explain it all later Astrid, I just need to get that big box back to my house and then the small one to Bucket and then we can go meet all my 'adoring subjects', OK?" Astrid flashed her teeth in a grin as she got the idea, picking up her own speed to then run by him.  
"You owe me for helping with this!" she called back as Hiccup watched her in surprise at just going along with his antics, shouting back at her to slow down as they packed up.

* * *

Mere minutes after having successfully hidden one of the packages in his house and delivering the other to Mulch and Bucket, Hiccup was now stood outside the entrance to the Great Hall. Astrid stood by his side, having to nudge his body to check he was still in there. The pair of them hadn't moved since they had first arrived here and Hiccup seemed almost nervous of what would wait inside for him.  
"You alright, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him, a tone of concern obvious in her voice.  
"Yeah, just...don't know what to expect" Hiccup said. "People aren't going to jump on me or anything are they?"  
"I don't think Vikings are known for being really 'ambushy'. We're much too loud for that." With a chuckle, Hiccup shook his head and adjusted his cloak once again, extending out his arm to take Astrid's own.  
"Shall we, milady?" he asked with a joking pouting face. Astrid nodded with a similar pouty look of mock royalty before devolving into a giggle and following Hiccup's stride. As the pair approached the gigantic doors of the Hall, Hiccup let out a bit an exhale to steel himself and eventually pushed against their heavy frame. Almost immediately he was greeted with noise.  
"The chief is here!" he heard Gobber say from somewhere in the crowd before an enormous cheer rang out into the reverb filled space of the hall from Viking and dragons alike. Already, the sound of traditional music from to the side was playing out into the room as it seemed that the party was in full swing even without the guest of honor present. Typical for a Berk holiday. Hiccup could only really smile with the warm feeling he got at the effort, though the amount of people here specifically for him did make him feel a little singled out. He rubbed the back of his head as he walked further inside with Astrid in tow, occasionally nodding in thanks to people for the greetings of 'Happy Birthday!' and their dragons for their rumblings of similar sentiments put his way. Maybe celebratory birthdays weren't such a bad thing after all. Moving to the centre of the hall where tables full of food and decorations lined the space in front of the fire pit, Hiccup was met with the smiling faces of the other riders, Gobber and also Valka. Cloudjumper watched from behind them with curious eyes at the scene, almost a little bewildered as to why the humans were making such a racket. The Stormcutter's wings moved for a moment, a fact that seemed to surprise Cloudjumper as well, just as a black shape appeared into view and slipped out from under it. Like a case of dejà vu at seeing a dragon run towards him during a holiday, Hiccup was greeted with the sight of a now very awake and very excited Toothless, the Night Fury running in from the under Cloudjumper's wing with a pleased series of growls and grumbles. Astrid chuckled and took a step back to make room for the hyperactive dragon.  
"Toothless! Hey bud, I was wondering if you'd managed to make it here!" Hiccup exclaimed, reaching his arms forward to run around Toothless' head when he came close. His dragon cooed pleasantly, pushing his cheeks into his human's hands with a content flutter of his wings. He gave a playful roar and nudged Hiccup in the stomach, his eyes big with a wag of his tail to accompany their look. Before Hiccup had a chance to speak again, the dragon suddenly raised up on his hind legs and then shoved his snout downwards towards Hiccup's head. As a wet noise of drool against human hit the air, the group behind Toothless couldn't help but laugh at the dragon having pulled this trick off twice during a holiday now. As Night Fury slobber dripped from the now damp spikes of his hair and despite being on the cusp of objecting to this not being washable once again, Hiccup felt something bulky resting on his head. He reached his hands upwards and took it down to get a better look, another creeping sense of dejà vu running through his body. It was a brand new helmet this time though. Instead of being the typical dual horned affair, it was more a helmet-like version of his racing mask. The metal structure was ridged with dragon-like spikes along the middle from front to back and finished with the same color as his armor. A much less aggressive looking helmet for an equally less aggressive chief, but one that fit him much better as a Night Fury tamer.  
"You can thank me for the handiwork and your mum for gettin' him to do that!" Gobber called from behind the group, obviously with a mouthful of food. Hiccup shook his head with a snicker as Toothless twitched his ear plates, seeming like he was waiting for an answer. Was it OK? Hiccup beamed warmly as his friend, resting his forehead against the dragon's own and nuzzling it softly.  
"Thank you, bud" he started, enjoying the pleasant tingle of the Night Fury's rumble running through his skull. His voice turned quieter, as if to make sure only Toothless could hear. "Now, just give me a little time and I'll return the favor." Toothless seemed intrigued by the words. Return the favor? For what?

Gobber suddenly barged his way into the front of the small group with a yell. Or was it just his attempt at a song? Hiccup couldn't tell.  
"Aye, lad, Happy Birthday! I swear it wasn't that long ago you were threatening to blow yourself up near the forge fire! Now look at ye! Chief of Berk and with a girl of all things around your arm! Surprised it's not that dragon honestly."  
"Heh, uh, thanks, Gobber. Hopefully I won't be doing any near death things today though."  
"I should hope not! Unless you plan on stuffing yourself with all this food and drink. It won't eat itself, you know!"  
The other riders all rushed forward before Gobber had a chance to continue, shouting out their usual cocky cheers and greetings. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had gone all out on their appearance by giving each other the most outrageous face painting jobs of sickly green and yellow Hiccup had ever seen. Snotlout had given the almost inevitable 'birthday beats' to Hiccup's back, almost knocking the wind out of him like the crates did on the docks. All 21 times. Fishlegs' present had been much less painful, a collected assortment of his dragon card collection focusing on the species Hiccup himself had helped to name and classify. And Gobber, when he had finally gotten the chance to break through the rush of youths, had gifted Hiccup with a new prosthetic attachment, this particular footing having spikes built into the bottom to act as a better grip during icy and snowy weather that wouldn't be too far behind today. It didn't take long before Valka stepped forward as well, reaching out to take her son's hands in her own. She pressed a small object into his palm insistently to make sure he knew it was there.  
"Happy Birthday, Hiccup. I hope this'll be the first of many I'll be able to be here for" she said sweetly, leaning towards his cheek to gently kiss it. Hiccup's smile only grew broader as he loosened his grip around the object to examine his gift. As he opened his hand, his eyes grew wide at what he saw. It was another small toy, similar to the one that she had made all those years ago for him as a baby. It was colored jet black, the tiny wings, red tail fin and brilliant green button eyes making the resemblance to Toothless more than obvious.  
"My skills might be a bit rusty with things like this, but I hope you like it. Maybe first of a collection, eh?" Valka spoke with a hopeful tone. Hiccup opened his mouth to speak his thanks for the toy, but was unable to for the longest time before he eventually hugged his mother back with a tight grip.  
"Thanks, Mom, I...don't have the words" he responded, his teeth showing in a broader grin as she ruffled his hair. Cloudjumper voiced his approval at the scene with a nod of his head and a deep rumble. Valka bowed her head downwards and let her son go, just as a voice from the musicians began to slow their playing.  
"Attention everyone! For the first time in years, I think it's time for the chief to lead!" Hiccup seemed utterly puzzled by what that meant even as Berk erupted in noise at the idea. Isn't leading what he did everyday? He couldn't figure it out until he noticed the crowds make a bit of a wider space in front of him to reveal his next 'present'.

Astrid was now standing a few feet away from him, an arm extended out towards Hiccup just as he realized that the music of the room had stopped, the hushed whispers of the other Vikings watching the scene being the only other noise in the Hall. Astrid herself seemed a little impatient for whatever it was that was happening. He suddenly felt very self-conscious at that moment, his initial worry of being made a fuss over rising to the surface again now his initial joy at the gifts had worn off. All these eyes on him was something he should've been used to by now, but he couldn't deny how it made him feel inside. He focused instead on Astrid and took a few steps towards her with curiosity as to what she wanted. Naturally, the way she looked today wasn't making his self-consciousness go away.  
"Uh, Astrid...?" Hiccup asked, taking her hand before he was suddenly tugged towards her with a firm pull. He grunted as he nearly slammed into her, the young Viking girl resisting the urge to laugh at his clumsiness before she altered his position to be ready for something. He had a feeling he knew what it was.  
"Astrid, w-what are you doing? You know I don't..."  
"I'm only going to do this in public once, so make sure it goes right."  
"H-How is this 'leading'? Did you plan this?"  
"I wasn't even told this had to be a thing until a few days ago! I don't like it anymore than you do, but... a chief has to be able to dance at his own birthday."  
"Dance...?! I can't...you're...this can't be a real thing!" Hiccup fumbled. He just knew something would've made him fluster today somehow. How come Dad never had to do this during his birthdays? As the crowd waited in anticipation and reinforced to him that this was a real event, it took Hiccup a few moments to realize why his father had never done this in past years. Because of his mother's absence. Suddenly feeling a tinge of guilt at being so quick to dismiss the idea and seeing how the villagers seemed excited at the prospect of reviving an old Berk tradition, Astrid brushed his cheek to bring him back to reality.  
"It's just one song, OK? Now get ready" she ordered, her face showing a mixture of her usual gentle nature around him as well as the serious threatening kind not to mess up for the sake of their dignity. Hiccup simply nodded his head with a sheepish grin when the music began to start up. He didn't realize this was a test he had to pass, apprehension rising in his gut. However, the moment the first chord of the pipes hit his ears, he knew instantly what the song was and what was expected.  
" _I'll swim and sail on savage seas..._ " sang the crowd, that first line making Hiccup suddenly feel a well of emotion growing in his chest. It was his parents song. And at hearing it, he seemed to lose all doubts about dancing to it from that fact alone.  
 _'I guess this is for you, Dad'_ Hiccup thought as he swallowed his nerves and rose to the challenge of what was expected from him. He raised his arm up and crossed against Astrid's own, mirroring his father's actions nearly a year ago when he had met Valka again in the Sanctuary after 20 years apart. They switched arms and began to pace around each other as the song continued, the Hall beginning to clap and sing aloud with a chorus of voices only adding to the moment. They hadn't seen such a thing for so long that it only added to festive spirit. The pair of them were mis-stepping all over the place given how they were more adapted to riding dragons than dancing to a rhythm, even more so as Hiccup struggled to remember what his parents had done when he watched them all that time ago. But from the way that the pair of them were laughing at their mistakes and generally just having fun, Hiccup had to admit that celebratory birthdays were something he had taken too long to get used to. Better late than never, right? As the pair circled each other for the final line and ended in that pose that involved Hiccup picking Astrid up into the air, he somehow managed to make his muscles co-operate and lift her substantially skywards (much to nearly everyone's surprise) before letting her down gently. The roar of applause that followed threatened to shake the Hall down from its volume. Hiccup stared at Astrid, the pair of them panting a little from their little exertion as well as red in the face for actually doing something like this. The moment seized Hiccup's body as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a move that actually made her be surprised for a change. Astrid eventually surrendered to the gesture, pressing back just as firmly as she held the back of his head for support. As she broke away, she smiled at him.  
"Let's never do that again. At least not in public."

* * *

The rest of the night carried on much as Hiccup had expected after having grown to like the focus on having a good time. Many a drink was had, many a banquet too, and it had all left him nearly exhausted both physically and mentally from what the night had given him. His face still felt hot from sharing the dance with Astrid, even though it happened hours ago. Though he hadn't gotten up to do it again since, he had sat with Toothless and watched the others try their luck with various traditional music he could remember glimpses of from his childhood. He even saw Gobber try his luck at doing so. Hiccup could only assume that the drink made him brave enough. As the evening ticked on by and the energy began to die down the more the night rolled in, the village began to disperse back home and Hiccup had followed suit after a parting kiss from Astrid. Right now, he was currently walking back to the house with Toothless in tow, a hand resting on the Night Fury's head as they walked. Now it was time for his own gifts. He just hoped that they would go down as much a treat as his dancing apparently did. As the pair of them opened the door to head inside, a fire still lit generously from Valka before she had left this morning, Toothless rumbled and jumped his way up to the top floor using the roof supports as a climbing frame. Hiccup shook his head with a laugh and took the longer and more casual route up the stairs like a normal person, just as Toothless had scrambled over the edge of the floor to sit near Hiccup's bed. Letting out a heavy sigh of relief at giving his neck a rest from the cloak by letting it fall to the floor, the young Viking sat down on his bed and rubbed his hands through his hair.  
"Looks like we survived another year, bud" Hiccup summarized, Toothless shuffling his own body forward a little to brush his snout against his human's hands. Hiccup returned the affection with a flurry of scratches over all of his dragon's favorite spots, the Night Fury's tongue lolling form the side of his jaws in approval. As he broke off from the scratching, Hiccup raised a hand to command Toothless to wait and hopped off of his bed. He knelt down and reached his hands under the small wooden frame to pull out his box from Johann earlier whilst also being thankful that the second one he'd delivered to Bucket had been put here as well, Toothless tilting his head and then leaning down to sniff in inquiry as to what they were. Hiccup shoved them to the side in front of Toothless' claws, causing his dragon to give a questioning rumble.  
"Toothless, I know today's been all about me. You know, my birthday, being the chief and everything" Hiccup explained, the dragon twitching his ear plates at every word. "But ever since we met Mom back at the Sanctuary, I had no idea we were the same age. And I didn't really want to be the center of attention all day, bud. So I got these." Hiccup started with the bigger box first, prying away the lid with a tug and allowing Toothless to peer inside. The dragon suddenly licked his lips with an excited wiggle at seeing the box's contents. It was a substantial catch of rare Arctic salmon, the fish preserved decently in partially melted ice thanks to some secrets Johann had learned from the fisherman who caught it. Toothless crooned, his claws batting at the ice to break it apart and seemingly thoroughly amused with the shards of frozen water that doused his claws. This was some of the tastiest fish he'd ever eaten before and Hiccup had managed to get a whole box full! Hiccup could only laugh at the scene, gently turning his dragon's attention back to the second box. It was much smaller than the other one, about the size of a small shield, and Toothless couldn't sense there was any food inside it. Hiccup tugged at the lid with a grunt of exertion, throwing it to the side. Toothless was quick to pry his nose in, his eyes crossing inwards a little to have a good snoop inside. The dragon retracted his head, switching his gaze between the box and Hiccup with another croon. He seemed a little touched at what he had seen. Hiccup's smile couldn't be hidden as he carefully removed the box's contents. Inside was a shield itself, the same kind of shape as the ones that made up the portraits in the Great Hall. And a portrait was indeed upon it. Having enlisted the services of Bucket to paint it during the day with some careful instructions from Mulch, the shield had now been decorated with the sight of Hiccup and Toothless stood side by side to one another. With a map in one of Hiccup's hands and his other reached around to rub under a glowing blue Toothless' chin, the portrait seemed like it was fit to hang in the Great Hall itself.  
"Bucket spent most of the evening painting it. Said he was happy to do so since loud noises from parties apparently make the bucket itch." Hiccup explained with a shrug. "Anyway, Mulch suggested it be called 'Two Alphas'. A bit grandiose, but I think it works. Don't you, bud?" Toothless nodded his head with an equally toothless smile, nudging his head forward to rub against Hiccup's chest. His human had gone through all of this trouble for him on his own day of celebration? It made the Night Fury feel like he could lick and snuggle the young chief all night in gratitude. Hiccup would have no objections to the fact, but instead focused on calming his dragon down enough to return their attention back to the fish. He broke one of them free from their icy prison and raised it to Toothless' jaws.  
"Happy Birthday, Toothless" he said simply, just as Toothless snatched the fish from his fingers and savored the flavor with a satisfied growling. The Night Fury shifted a little onto his hind legs and suddenly scooped Hiccup off the ground as he licked his lips, squeezing the Viking to his scales with an affectionate whining noise. Hiccup spluttered at being grabbed, but managed to reach up and hug around Toothless' neck, closing his eyes to focus on the warmth of his friend's internal fire. As Toothless relaxed, Hiccup suddenly heard the telltale signs of his dragon choosing to share his food, a sudden wet heaving noise piercing the quiet of the moment as half of the eaten salmon flopped to the ground. Toothless nudged the fish towards Hiccup as he was put back down, waiting expectantly. Normally, Hiccup wouldn't usually consider doing it, but you had to make sacrifices for birthdays. He'd learned that today alone. Though he partially grimaced at the prospect, Hiccup picked up the drool covered fish and took a bite, thankful that the powerful taste of the fish was stronger than the feeling of the slimy surface. Toothless, pleased by the action then went back to his normal sitting position, sticking his face into the box of fish to get some more out to eat. Hiccup smirked and continued gently rubbing around his dragon's neck, staring up through the space in their roof at the stars.

This had been one of the best birthdays he could remember. Even more so now he knew he could share it with his best friend.


	5. Communication

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **5.** _ **Communication:**_ _If there's one thing Hiccup can do well, it's talk and write at length. Toothless will happily listen and watch him just as well. But sometimes, the Night Fury finds himself envious of his human's ability. If only they could reverse those roles somehow..._

* * *

The sounds of pencil scratching against paper was one of the few noises audible during the rather uneventful night as it ran over the surface of the parchment with ease. In the dimly lit glow of the lantern nearby, it left sketchy traces of black in smooth curves as each letter began to take shape, leaving words and sentences that the author hoped would remain for years to come. The man in charge of that pencil making these notes was one of the only Vikings who could accurately add to the volumes of pages than came before this one. It was a task he had set himself to complete almost out of a duty, though no real person had actually ordered him to do so. He had just felt obligated to after all he had seen and experienced.

The Book Of Dragons. A tome written generations ago by Bork The Bold (or Very, Very Unfortunate depending on where you started looking in his history) for the sole purpose of categorizing and noting the traits of the dragon species of the world. Stoker, Boulder, Fear, Sharp, Tidal, Mystery and Strike. Names that any Berk resident worth their salt knew by heart since the days of the Dragon Wars. And since it had been subsequently added to and expanded on by the lineage of Berk that followed Bork, the Book had proven to be one of the most invaluable sources of information to Viking kind when it came to fighting back against the scourge of attacks that had plagued their lands for years. Granted, it had also caused some trouble in recent years, but it was a part of the island's history and was treated with near reverence. Although now, these days it had proven to be somewhat out of date. After Berk had made peace with the dragons so many years ago, the continuous advice of 'kill on sight' and the general aggression against these creatures in the Book's pages was thrown into question. Some species had never been documented by being classed as too dangerous too early, others had simply been missing because there was no way for Vikings to find them without the aid of dragons themselves. With each new addition, the Book had become increasingly disorganized and the classes were all over the place throughout its many pages, making it a nightmare to find specifics in. It would be a big challenge to even try and amend one part of it, yet alone the entire thing. But that was what Hiccup was trying to do.

Over the past few weeks in the spare time he had from running the village, Hiccup had spent the better part of many near sleepless nights in his room essentially rewriting the Book Of Dragons for the second time in Berk's recent history. He had done so once before many years ago, but after the latest events, the world had shown there was much more to add. He didn't want it to simply be a guide to learn about dragons anymore, but also show how their personalities shaped their behavior and how to gain their trust. Just as he believed the world should know. He was still keeping the better part of Bork's work intact to honor how he had started it off in the first place, but was adding in new and updated facts about the traits of dragon species as well as his own sketch work to make it the best revision yet. His own maps had proven handy in adding information on dragon habitats among other things and Valka's own knowledge had been put to good use in adding the new species too. Right now, Hiccup was working on the latest page about the Hobblegrunts, noting how their different color shifts showed their mood at any particular moment. Apart from his scribbling, the house remained quiet since Valka and Cloudjumper had decided to take a night flight around the nearby isles. Hiccup had chosen to stay inside, smiling as he finished off the newest page and set his pencil down with a stretch (and crack) of his fingers. There were only a few left to go now before the new Book was completed and he had been looking forward to this latest one for quite some time. Though, this would be the last one for the evening. Or was it morning yet? He couldn't tell. Hiccup grabbed his mug from the other side of his desk and took a swig of water to clear his dry throat, thankful his beverage was still drinkable despite how he had neglected it for some time. The chief swiveled in his chair for a moment before turning to his side, looking towards his final subject for the day.  
"Whew! OK, bud, looks like it's time to do your page at last. Now, first things first, hold still so I can get a good angle for the sketch..."

Toothless, having spent the last few hours watching Hiccup work and waiting obediently for his time to shine, perked up an ear plate at hearing his Viking speak and shuffled about to a better position in anticipation of what he would consider to be the best part of this whole endeavor. The Night Fury had always liked it when he got to watch Hiccup work, whether it was crafting his inventions in the armory or writing down notes or drawings in the maps and journals they had made together. He especially liked it when Hiccup had drawn him in the past and wanted to make sure he looked as good as he had done in his human's past work. He adjusted his legs to sit comfortably in case he was there for a long time, tail and wings tucked against his body in a way that almost mimicked the sense of smug pride he had felt when he had been first acknowledged as the Alpha. Toothless almost seemed to snicker at Hiccup with an odd stuttered rumbling sound, throwing a glance towards the Viking as if to give him permission to proceed. Hiccup himself could only really laugh at the status his dragon was now apparently wielding. Being Alpha almost looked like it had gone to his head a bit.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he retorted with a mock fancy accent. "I promise that I won't leave a single scale not looking absolutely dashing!" A snort from Toothless showed that the mocking tone of his human's voice had been noticed as Hiccup leaned over to rub under the Night Fury's chin in apology. As his good and prosthetic feet worked together to move his chair into just the right spot for getting the best angle, Hiccup nodded in a silent order for Toothless to remain still. The dragon obeyed and focused his gaze away from Hiccup on purpose, like he was watching something way off in the distance. Similar to how he had done all those years ago in the cove, actually. Hiccup had always said it helped to seem like Toothless didn't notice he was being drawn, made it look more 'natural'. That's what the Night Fury had been told when he had been shown the sketches made around the same time back then as well. He had to admit his human certainly knew a lot about this particular craft, much more than his own attempts had shown.  
"Perfect, Toothless, just keep still like that. I think you're gonna like it..." Hiccup mumbled, just as he started coloring in one of the sketch's pupils. Toothless couldn't help but smile with a pleased vibration at being such a big help, even if he risked messing up the sketch with his altered expression. He began wondering when he could get to see what Hiccup would write about him too. Though he knew the page wasn't supposed to be just about him, it wasn't like the young chief had much other source material to go with for information, right?

Another few minutes passed by before Toothless noticed that Hiccup's pencil had stopped its scribbling, wondering if he could move from his position to see his handiwork. As the writing tool was laid down against the desk, Hiccup raised an arm and brushed it over the page to wipe away any excess marks and reveal it properly for Toothless. The Night Fury excitedly hopped his way over to the desk and leaned in his snout to peer at the sketch, sniffing at the page and tilting his head different directions in order to get all the right parts inspected. The sketch showed Toothless looking off to the right, his ear plates pitched upwards like he had noticed something to focus on intently. The dragon's lean and speed-focused form was surprisingly detailed for such quick work, the particular dominant scale patterns on his legs and forehead easily a big feature. Toothless continued to inspect the picture for a moment more as Hiccup watched with hopeful eyes. His ear plates flopped about his head like dog ears before his usual toothless grin showed itself. Hiccup had gotten almost every detail perfectly! Or so the dragon would think since he wasn't able to really see what he looked like most of the time. Either way, he appeared to be very pleased with the miniature version of himself on the page as he nuzzled into Hiccup's shoulder with a crooning sound, clearly impressed with how talented his human was. Hiccup's own smile couldn't hide itself at having his work accepted so eagerly.  
"I'm glad you like it, Toothless. I figured you'd be the harshest critic of anyone," he admitted with a sheepish shrug. The Night Fury nudged him again with another exhale of breath and Hiccup reached up his right arm to lazily hang around his dragon's neck as he flexed his left hand's fingers to get ready for the final stretch of writing.  
"Alright, let's get the basics down, eh?" he suggested, beginning to write in the different sections in Viking runes along the currently blank Night Fury page of the Book.  
" _'Size: 26 feet in length. Speed: Near faster than sound at maximum. Distinguishing Traits: Largest wing-to-body ratio of known dragon species, jet black coloring, split spikes down spine.'_ Hmm..." Hiccup paused, drumming the pencil against his chin as he pondered how to phrase the next part. This would be where he would usually list off the most important facts in a description for a dragon species, but he would have to think carefully about the Night Fury page. His previous attempts at adding to it years ago were done well before he knew anywhere near as much as he did about Toothless now. Having to get that all of his current knowledge down on just a single page would be difficult and he knew Astrid would accuse him of favoritism if he didn't manage it. Then again, he also knew she would say the same thing if he didn't keep it as factual as possible. He began to make a start on some separate sheets of paper as part of his practice notes before he wrote in the final version. After all, he didn't want to have to rewrite the whole thing if he made a mistake.  
"Let's see... _'This dragon's speed and stealth during flight are near legendary. Utilizing different strengths of fire for maximum effect at hunting and problem solving, the Night Fury is easily the most intelligent of all species.'_ OK, good so far. Could use some of that." Toothless liked the sound of the compliments, rumbling with content acceptance in a way that made Hiccup smirk as he continued reading what he wrote down aloud. The Viking found himself stopping again as he tried to think how to chronicle the Night Fury's attitude. That was near legendary as well from his own experiences, though not in the way of his predecessors would think. Hiccup turned his attention back to Toothless, brushing over his neck scales again with twitches of his fingers.  
"So what do you think? Maybe something about how you're really brave when you're curious or perhaps just mention how you're a pushover when given some fish?" he joked, prompting Toothless to grumpily thwack him upside the head with the edge of his wing.  
"H-Hey, OK!" Hiccup spluttered, refocusing his efforts back into serious mode. "Well, uh... how's this _? 'The Night Fury's sense of loyalty and protectiveness is unlike any of the other dragon species. Once you have earned it, there is nothing they won't do for you.'_ Wait...would that be right? I mean, I've only ever seen one Night Fury, so to say they all do this is wrong... but then, I only have experience of an individual and it has to be a proper description of the species not the individual... ugh..."  
Toothless just stared at Hiccup nearly blankly at his ramblings from thinking aloud. Hiccup himself had clearly lost the focus of what he was talking about as he continued to speak to no-one in particular. He caught himself doing that when he felt another exhale from Toothless ruffle his messy hair and could only really shake his head at how he was fussing so much over the page. He sighed and looked back at his dragon.  
"Shame I can't just ask you what you think would work, huh? Ah, well. Just let me know if this sounds OK as I go, alright bud?"  
Toothless nodded his head in agreement to the request, listening attentively for when he would need to give his input at each section. Hiccup continued to mark down notes on the seperate pages with Toothless peering down at the letters as they formed from the movements of the human's hand. Although, the dragon's previous positive expression had faltered after Hiccup had begun to write again. The last words the chief said kept rolling around in the dragon's head as he brushed a claw against the ground.

 _'I would tell you if I could, Hiccup. I really wish I could...'_

If there was one thing that Toothless often wished he could do properly, it would be to do what Hiccup did. All of his drawings and writings and...'words', did he call them? It was how Hiccup communicated. And that method of communication fascinated Toothless. Humans communicated in the same way other dragons did by making noises. When it came to noises, however, the roars of humans had much more structure than the dragons could manage. In some ways, Toothless had taken on those mannerisms after so many years together with his human, trying to imitate how Hiccup growled. Hiccup always seemed to like it when he copied and Toothless liked it too. Because of that, the dragon sometimes imagined what it would be like for them to have a proper 'conversation' (was that the right word as well?) like Hiccup did with the others, like with Astrid and Valka and everyone else. After all, thanks to the years he had known the Viking, Toothless could understand nearly everything that Hiccup said to him. Whether it was commands, hyperactive babbling about inventions, the dry sense of humor that they both shared or (best of all) the affections, the dragon got it all. Audibly, Toothless had worked out the meanings of what Hiccup roared through repeated listening and practice. But he had been unable to help Hiccup understand his roars properly to the same degree because of this language barrier. There had been times he just wanted to agree properly to Hiccup's plans with more than just a nod, give more of an indication to his mood than just a growl. And, lately, he wanted to properly return the admittance of their familial love he'd heard only a few months ago during the lightning incident somehow. He just couldn't make the noises, no matter how he tried. Thankfully, his Hiccup was smart and got the general gist of what his dragon tried to say most of the time, but situations like this sometimes bothered Toothless internally. The main thing he couldn't grasp was how Hiccup did all of it in the first place. How was he able to actually make those sounds to mean things? How did humans come up with this drawn way of growling in the first place to go with their actual growling? How did Hiccup know what all of these strange symbols meant when he wrote them down? What did they even mean when you looked at them after he'd put them on paper? It all made Toothless's head spin thinking about it too much, in all honesty. He knew that Hiccup had been trying his best for all the time they had known each other to discover the secrets of dragons and how they lived. But Toothless often wondered if the Viking knew that curiosity went both ways when it came to dragons. Or so the Night Fury assumed so. He didn't know what Cloudjumper or Stormfly or the others thought about this, but it certainly interested him. Toothless made a decision to show how much it did, nodding his head to himself with a grunt of determination as he stepped forward to sit rather close to Hiccup's side and watch him work.

 _'Hiccup was able to learn almost everything when he watched me. So maybe if I watch what he does lots and lots, I can learn too. That would make him happy, wouldn't it? I like it when my Hiccup is happy.''_

Maybe if Toothless saw what Hiccup was doing enough times, he would understand how his human was able to make those shapes that mean something too! That settled it. If he couldn't speak the words, Toothless was doing to try and make them instead. That would tell Hiccup everything he wanted to say! Hiccup felt Toothless wiggle thanks to the arm still draped around the Night Fury's neck.  
"Oh, you want to be more hands on editor, bud?" he asked, moving his hand around again in a sneaky idea. His digit pried to just behind the dragon's head and began rubbing at the sensitive spot near Toothless' neck that made his spine plates flutter and split themselves apart. Toothless broke into a spasm as a pleasant tingling traveled down his spine with a nearly high pitched croon. He could nearly curse at Valka for showing Hiccup that spot, the tingly sensation making his whole body quiver. No, he had to focus! He wanted to show Hiccup he was learning too! With a shake of his head to be rid of the residual tingles, the dragon focused his eyes back at the writing, seeming more determined than ever to understand it without distraction. Hiccup's moving fingers paused as he tried to work out what Toothless was doing. That spot usually sent his dragon rolling around the ground in delight and it took a lot to break him out of that. The Viking eased off and decided to let Toothless observe, but couldn't hide his initial look of concern at the out of character behavior. With his voice hushed at remembering just how late it had become, Hiccup moved his notes to plain view.  
"OK, what do you think of this?"

* * *

Another hour passed before the page was completed. During that time, Valka and Cloudjumper had come back home and wished a good night to their counterparts before sleeping themselves. The sky was already beginning to lighten as the dawn approached slowly but surely. Hiccup had decided to soldier on to get this part finished and with each line that he wrote down and spoke aloud, Toothless was memorizing what he could manage. Which wasn't much, especially since the length of day was making both him and his human yawn something fierce.

Toothless could now say with nearly full certainly that each big space between those shapes meant the start of a new 'word'. He had also been taking special care to follow each gap in case certain words jumped out at him. The shapes that Hiccup moved over with his pencil while reading, the ones that matched him saying 'Night Fury' and 'Dragon'. Those same combinations of shapes kept coming up when Toothless followed them in tandem with Hiccup's voice, but without any knowledge of what the other ones meant, it was becoming a bit confusing. A wide yawn made Toothless' jaws part with a gentle sigh of breath, just as Hiccup set his pencil down with a wince of pain, clutching at his left hand with his other.  
"OK, OK, ow, ow, ow, done, no more..." he muttered. "Remind me to take a break in future before I end up losing a hand to match the foot." Hiccup brushed over the finalized page with his not-cramped-up hand, looking over his work like it was some sort of magnum opus despite his tender digits. Adorned with the large sketch of his own Night Fury and signed at the bottom as if to give a bit of an author's credit, it was certainly something to behold. He had noticed Toothless trying to follow along what he was doing throughout the time they had spent on the page as well. Maybe the dragon was just wanting to make sure it was as flattering as possible despite the fact he couldn't really read the words. As if to put his friend's mind at ease that he had been put down with plenty of praise, Hiccup began to read his final notes on the Night Fury out loud for the final time, to which Toothless listened (and also read along with) intently.  
" _'Though once thought to be supernatural thanks to their elusive and rare nature, the Night Fury is still one of the most remarkable dragon species in the world. With the largest wing-to-body ratio of any Strike class dragon, this creature can easily reach speeds that near the speed of sound. Just as maneuverable as it is fast, the Night Fury's preferred method of attack uses that speed in combination with its shot-like fire to attack targets from a distance._  
" _'The Night Fury can change the intensity of its fire to suit any situation. It can vary from being able to bounce off solid objects to blowing apart even the strongest of rocks. They usually has a six shot limit, but particularly determined Night Furies can push themselves beyond this limit when provoked. Their skin appears to glow with their internal fire when threatened enough and the fire itself can double in effectiveness even with the weakest blasts. Though Night Furies can sometimes appear to be toothless, their teeth can retract and appear in an instant when necessary and the strength of their jaws is on par with other Strike class dragons.'_ " Hiccup paused in his reading, turning his attention back to Toothless to check for a reaction. The dragon seemed to nod in approval just as his big emerald eyes had finished catching up on the writing. So far, he hadn't been able to get much besides the few shape combinations of words he'd picked up already. The one mention of his own name had caught his eye, but it wasn't made with the big runes like the other ones. Maybe names were different? Or...well, he wouldn't think on the "whys" yet. Too much to process for one night. But it at least all sounded wonderful! Toothless growled, bobbing his head towards the page as if to order his human to continue reading, which Hiccup did without hesitation. Never refuse an Alpha, right? This next part was his favorite anyway.  
 _" 'The Night Fury is one of the most fiercely loyal and protective dragons in the world. Once you have earned a Night Fury's trust, there is nothing they will not do for you. They will be your companion, your ally in battle and your greatest friend. They show a great curiosity to learn about the world as much as you do about them. If you show that you are no threat, they won't show you teeth in return. If you encounter this dragon, consider yourself one of the lucky few who have.'_ "  
Hiccup then pointed to his signed name on the bottom, scrawled in the same runes as the others but in a much more messy form. Whether that was because it wasn't part of the official text anymore or because Hiccup's hand muscles had just given up, neither of them could say. Either way, Toothless felt touched by how Hiccup had written that last paragraph.  
"Figured it needed a bit of a personal touch. Works, don't you think?" Hiccup mused. The Viking had almost exclaimed 'favoritism be damned' with all of that information, the Night Fury gently crooning in Hiccup's ear and nuzzling against it. Toothless felt very proud of the chief for putting such effort into this book and to see he had nearly reached his goal of completing his work made Toothless want to speak that pride aloud even more.

 _'I'm one of the lucky few to have met you too, you know.'_

Hiccup reached up his arms and hugged around Toothless' neck, copying the nuzzling action with one of his own.  
"There, did I make you sound all big and important, Your Highness?" Without missing a beat, Toothless lolled his tongue out as a silent threat to drop the mock royalty jokes before Hiccup flinched in anticipation of being doused in slobber before they slept. Luckily, he was given mercy and Toothless simply 'laughed' in his stuttered vibrations before moving his head free to let Hiccup up. The young chieftain stood from the chair and stretched his arms upwards, a little concerned when he heard a noticeable crack from his spine pierce the quiet of the night. Or early morning.  
"Yep, definitely need to focus more on 'moving' when we do this again..." he muttered, flumping onto his bed a few steps away with an exhausted sigh. Toothless watched him and saw that his human had been working harder on this Book than he first realized. An even bigger reason to get his plan right.  
"I'm just gonna...collapse here, if that's OK, bud..." Hiccup said into his pillow. The Night Fury approached the side of the bed, leaning down to pick up the blanket which had fallen to the floor from Hiccup's heavy landing. He flicked it up and over the Viking before Hiccup himself grabbed it to cover his shoulders.  
"Thanks, Toothless..." he mumbled sleepily, seeming to forget about extinguishing the lantern on his desk as he nodded off almost instantly. Who knew that excursions of formal writing until morning would take it out of you?

Toothless smiled and nodded his head in a silent congratulation of a job well done. Now he had another job to finish. The Night Fury turned his attention back to the still open Book across Hiccup's desk, beginning to re scan his admittedly tired eyes over the shapes once more. If he could just figure out what some of them were, he knew exactly what he wanted to say to Hiccup. Then it would just matter of practicing his drawing.

 _'Rest well, my friend. I'll be ready to show you tomorrow, I promise.'_

* * *

The morning arrived all too soon for Hiccup as the usual cries of Terrible Terror flocks on the rooftops broke him out of his slumber. He grumbled as he came around, rubbing his eyes with one of the broadest yawns he could remember having in recent weeks. He really must've gone overboard yesterday, especially since his left hand still felt like had fallen off from all of his writing. Hiccup shook himself awake, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he sat up in bed. He was a little surprised to see that Toothless was not sleeping on the opposite side of the room, but wasn't particularly worried either. It had been a long night and he was more concerned with the possibility he had massively slept in rather than his companion's condition. He grumpily stood up from the bed, slipping into his one good shoe and a fresh shirt before starting to head downstairs. When his nose detected no aroma of his mother's cooking, Hiccup winced to himself. He had really lost track of time, hadn't he? Then again, given how infamous Valka's cooking skills were, maybe it was a good thing. That's not to say she wasn't improving. Gobber had actually been teaching her to make some pretty good stuff, it just had more of a potential to go wrong compared to the average cook.

Hiccup finally found his mother when he reached the bottom of the stairs. She was sat in her usual chair in the main living area and appeared to fit the role of a wise one quite well because of it, a big book resting between her hands as her eyes scanned over the pages. Cloudjumper was peering over her shoulder with just as much intent, almost mirroring how Toothless had acted the previous night. Hiccup took a few seconds to realist she was reading part of the Bork Papers, an older copy of the Book Of Dragons he had initial used as reference for the other pages. His metal foot creaked into the ground, causing Cloudjumper's head to spin like an owl in place and Valka to stop her reading. Hiccup gave an awkward sheepish wave as he continued to walk into the room.  
"H-Hey, Mom! Lovely morning, right...? It... _is_ still morning, isn't it? Please tell me it's still morning..."  
"Only just!" Valka replied with a chuckle, shutting the book and laying it down on the small table beside her to focus her attention properly on Hiccup. "What on earth were you doing last night to stay up like that? More on this?" Valka gestured her head towards the Papers.  
"Yep. The usual note and sketching and all of that," Hiccup said, reaching up a hand to rub around Cloudjumper's fins and coax out a pleased vibration from the Stormcutter. "Guess I got a bit carried away. Toothless kept me company though."  
"I had a feeling he would. You know, he was already awake when I woke up."  
"Awake? Doing what?"  
"He looked like he was looking over your desk," Valka continued, rising from the chair to stretch her legs after having been still for so long. "I saw all of your pictures of him scattered about there, I guess he just liked being able to see what he looks like. I know Cloudjumper did when you drew him, isn't that right?" Valka reached up both of her arms to move her dragon's head down, the four winged beast nudging against her cheek as she laughed at his playfulness betraying his size. Hiccup rolled his shoulders with a similar smirk.  
"I suppose these guys don't get the chance to see that often, huh?"  
"Another reason why you're good with them, son. You help them learn as well as us." Valka noticed Hiccup appreciate the compliment, though he was already starting to avert his gaze towards the door.  
"Say, Mom, have you seen Toothless since then? I know I'm late and all, but he never misses our morning flight." Valka shook her head, wondering if the Night Fury had somehow slipped out of the door when she had been lost in her reading. Hiccup nodded his head in silent thanks regardless and stepped in to give his mother a squeeze. Valka brushed over his hair to make her young chieftain look presentable before nudging him towards the door. She knew he wanted to get going.  
"Have a nice flight!" she called after Hiccup as he headed outside. Though her expression did sour a little as her own curiosity started to take over her thoughts. That Night Fury of his was certainly something, but acting sneaky and secretive usually meant that the dragon had some sort of idea. What was he up to?

Wandering around the village and giving late morning greetings to the residents now set about doing their daily work, Hiccup was unable to find any trace of Toothless. He checked the roof of their house, the cliff edges that served as their usual takeoff spot, even down by the docks in case the Night Fury had decided to stick his nose into another catch of fish. Still nothing. Concern was starting to grow in his stomach as he decided to check the one other place a dragon would be likely to be. The Academy Arena. It had been closed since Drago's attack until repairs to the village were complete and Hiccup had yet to finalize the new students who would soon want to make their way into its ranks. And an unused space was ideal as a hiding place for a scheming dragon. As he made his way through the winding hills and odd footpaths towards it, Hiccup's attention was suddenly broken by a screeching noise above him, followed by the beating of wings. He knew instantly that it was the telltale signs of a Deadly Nadder, the blue coloring of the razor spiked dragon appearing in full view as it set itself down besides him. With a smile that hid his look of worry, Hiccup reached up to rub under Stormfly's chin, earning a pleased purring noise from the female. It was like he gave greetings to the dragons as much as he did the people, though he didn't neglect Stormfly's rider.  
"Morning, mi'lady!" Hiccup piped up to Astrid, offering a hand to help her down from the dragon's saddle. She took it with a smile of her own and landed gracefully at the ground beneath him. She leaned in towards his cheek and pecked him in a greeting of her own, making Hiccup feel grateful (and flushed in the face) that she had not gone for the obvious punching of the spring coil. Again.  
"More like early afternoon, eh? What are you doing down here? I was almost doing your morning patrol for you when I didn't see you up there," Astrid explained, raising a brow in puzzlement.  
"Oh, I would be up there now if I could, really. I just can't seem to find my ride," Hiccup answered with a shrug.  
"Don't tell me. He got into the fish again."  
"No..."  
"You lost another helmet and he's trying to find it?"  
"No."  
"Gobber started singing during his blacksmithing?"  
"No, no, none of those..." Hiccup grumbled, the flustered reaction making Astrid giggle to herself. She knew it would wind him up since these had all been legitimate reasons for Toothless vanishing in the past. Though she found herself pausing when Hiccup continued to speak with a noticeable bit of concern in his voice.  
"No accidents, no terrible singing or food, he's just...gone." Astrid's smile faded. A small tinge of guilt at her attempt at humor appeared seeing Hiccup's slight worry bubble to the surface. She raised one of her hands to tell Stormfly to wait where she was before taking Hiccup's hand in her free one encouragingly. She began to tug him towards the Arena, seeing that's where he was headed from the ground.  
"Well, he can't be far! You haven't checked here, right? Maybe he just wanted to stretch his wings or something." Hiccup nearly stumbled over himself as his girlfriend's enthusiasm got the better of him, dragging him along with strength that continued to surprise him every time she used it. As the pair of them finally reached the Arena threshold, Hiccup managed to break free of her grasp and speak up.  
"Now, come on, Toothless can't stretch his wings like that unless I'm..." His words trailed off when they focused their attention on the Arena itself.

* * *

The space looked like a battle zone. Shields, spears and all sorts of weaponry were scattered around the ground either whole or in pieces, as if someone had ripped them from their storage racks for the sole purpose of making clutter. The ground itself had been cut into and carved in long streaks, scorch marks over particular areas evident from the way some of it still smoldered and left trails of stream rising into the air. And in the center of all of the mess, stood Toothless. The dragon had his back turned towards the entrance, unaware of the two Vikings as his body turned and moved about obscured by his wings. His head was leaned down, like he was focusing intently on something lying at his feet. What Hiccup and Astrid couldn't see was Toothless' activity was the cause of all of this mess.  
"What is he doing?" Astrid whispered.  
"I have no idea..." Hiccup murmured back. Toothless could be a bit mischievous at times, but not to the point of simple vandalism. What he didn't know was that long before his human had woken this morning, the Night Fury had come to the Arena knowing that it wouldn't be in use to practice what he had learned. Emphasis on trying. He was tired. His head hurt. His claws hurt too. But he had persisted. He had memorized the shapes and words that Hiccup had used in his writings to the best of his ability, the ones that mentioned the words he loved to hear Hiccup say. And from that, he had tried different ways to cut them into the ground, just like Hiccup had done all that time ago in the cove, to surprise him when he was eventually found. At first, Toothless had tried to use the spears in his jaws, but they had provided him with all of the dexterity of when he was using branches and giant icicles and had proven useless. The swords were obviously too sharp to consider being near his mouth and even the thought of using one of Hiccup's pencils had been tossed aside. Way too small for his claws. Thankfully, despite the dragon's obvious outbursts of frustration and fire at not getting the symbols right with the other tools (and there were a lot of marks to show it had happened plenty of times), Toothless felt a little happy with himself when he had come up with the idea to use his claws instead. They were certainly sharp enough to get the job done, allowing him to be much more precise in making those funny shapes. Besides, Hiccup used his own claws to do the writing in the first place. It was perfect! Now if only he could be sure what he had done was correct.

Toothless tried to shake away the doubt with a snort and stretched his claws, now aching from their exertion against the ground. Now he knew why Hiccup's claws had felt the way they had before, this writing business really hurt if you did too much. How did Hiccup get by? Either way, at least he would finally be able to show his human what he had learned. Or so he had hoped. He still couldn't be sure whether his memory was playing tricks on him when it came to the shapes or whether what he had managed to carve was legible in the first place. It did seem pretty wonky... the uncertainty made him want to burn the ground again!

 _'Rgh, if only I could ask Hiccup to help me...I just hope he understands.'_

The dragon was in a frantic state, worried that Hiccup would see an incomplete version and just think he had done something bad for no good reason. He didn't like it when Hiccup was mad with him. He just wanted Hiccup to be pleased with what he had tried to do.  
"Toothless?"  
The familiar voice made the dragon freeze and raise his head up, glancing over his wings and seeming a little alarmed that both Hiccup and Astrid were now staring at him. They were here so early! With a noise that sounded almost like a yelp, Toothless whipped his body around to shield the ground in front of him as he tried to play innocent, keeping his attention focused on the two young adults that seemed to be both in awe and confused as to why the Night Fury had made such a mess. Hiccup and Astrid both began to walk towards him, looking at the pieces on the cluttered ground in a vague attempt to try and understand what had happened.  
"Bud, what are you doing down here? I know you don't like the fact we still have some weapons here and all, but this is a bit much, don't you think?" Hiccup asked in his usual dry tone, glancing around the ones that were broken. Toothless didn't even make a noise in response, focusing his attention on the chief as if waiting for the right moment. Hiccup didn't really seem particularly angry as such, so that was a good start. Maybe that was the best time to reveal his work, when the Viking was least likely to be focused on the admittedly blatant destruction around them. Meanwhile, Astrid had circled to Toothless' side, catching sight of the ground behind him with a curious eye.  
"Hiccup? Come take a look at this," she called over, followed moments later by leather and metal footsteps against the rock. "Looks like he was...digging or something." As if on cue to match with the girl's yelling, the Night Fury stepped partially to the side with an excited noise, hunching his body low to the ground as if waiting for a reaction.

 _'Yes, I did that! I did it so you can read!'_

Hiccup laid his eyes on the peculiar sight as he approached the scene. Digging? Didn't sound like Toothless.  
"I don't think Night Furies are really known for being treasure hunters. More of a job for Skullcrusher or another Tracker."  
"Maybe, but that's what it looks like. I mean, those are claw marks, right?" Astrid asked, kneeling down to examine closely. "But...they're not even in the same place, they're all in weird lines an-"  
"Wait..." Hiccup interrupted, joining her on her knees as his hands began to brush over the canyons and valleys of carved rock. "Astrid, these aren't just lines. Look at this, there are curves here and crosses. It's almost like they're shapes. That one even looks like a letter."

 _'They are! They are letters! I hope it turned out OK, read it!'_

Toothless growled and wiggled his body, hopping around to near the end of the line of marks he had made to try and direct Hiccup's attention to them. The Viking did so and continued to scan over the impressions in the rock. He watched Toothless with confused awe as his prosthetic squeaked from standing and resting his weight upon it once more. His eyes went wide at what they saw. The one at the far end looked just like an A. That one looked like a T. And this one looked like an O. All in a line. It wasn't a long line and there weren't that many marks, but it didn't have to be. The idea it created was too huge to resist thinking about. Astrid stared at her boyfriend, trying to wonder what was running through his head.  
"Uh, Hiccup? You having a brainwave or a brain freeze there?"  
"They... _all_ look like letters..." Hiccup concluded, his mouth almost hanging open a little as a thought began to form in his mind. Was Toothless..?  
"Letters?" Astrid protested with a raised brow. As she watched the connections form in her partner's head in his expression, the Viking girl raised her hands up in protest. "Oh no, come on, Hiccup. You can't be serious. Dragons can't write!"  
"No, b-but they can imitate!" Hiccup rebuffed, his words stumbling over themselves as he started to get excited at the prospect of learning new dragon behaviour. "Gah, how come I didn't see it before? Think about it! I mean, they get to know us, they understand what we say to them and do with them! They learn! And Toothless, he... Look, I've always thought that most dragons learned by association. They see or hear something and associate it with something else and respond to that association. Like with my Mom and that stick thing she has. But what if... what if they can understand? Not just associate? What if they can take something they see and try to do it themselves to understand it? I mean, it would explain why Toothless has tried to copy me before! He could..."  
Hiccup's voice trailed off as he noticed Astrid seemed a little lost with his babbling. He should his head, raising his arm as if to dismiss what he was saying before he started to try and 'read' what his dragon had done. And, hopefully, also answer a million different questions flying around in his brain. Nevermind that this would expand his work on the Book Of Dragons, this was much more important. How did Toothless know what the concept of writing meant? How did he know what letter meant what? Did these claw marks actually mean anything or did they just look like it? And, most importantly _, why_? The Viking quickly flicked out his notebook from under his shirt, already beginning to scrawl down what he was seeing. Astrid, starting to grow warm to the idea at seeing Hiccup so invested in deciphering this, came to his side and watched his pencil start to jot down. Toothless meanwhile whined, anxious to see whether Hiccup would understand it. He really hoped that he would with almost his entire being.  
"L, O, A...I think those are Es?" Hiccup mumbled to himself, taking steps that rested at the base of each symbol. The steps between each one were uneven, the runes just appearing one after the other without any real structure. Unsurprising, but the fact they were shapes at all was amazing in itself. It would take a little to try and figure this out.

* * *

 **DR A GOnto otHL E S SproTe CTgre atEs tFR I E NDHI ccUp**

The letters were now written on the page. It had taken quite a while to make educated guesses since most of the actual letters themselves were hard to make out or even illegible thanks to the sheer number of tears in the ground. But Hiccup and Astrid finally had it in front of them. And frankly, it looked like gibberish. A random assortment of letters that Toothless had simply chosen as if to prove he could remember what they looked like. A feat worthy of respect and documentation for sure, but not the communication milestone Hiccup had been hoping for. Astrid was first to voice her disapproval.  
"Well, that's...something," she mumbled, looking between the note and the actual markings on the ground. "You sure you got this down right?"  
"Remember you're talking to the dragon nerd, here," Hiccup replied dryly. "This is correct, I'm sure of it but...I don't know, I can't make anything out." Toothless, at hearing Hiccup was stumped by what he was looking at, whimpered rather loudly as his ear plates drooped downwards against his neck. Had he made a mistake in something? Did Hiccup not understand...?

 _'Please, read it again! It's really true, Hiccup, it is!'_

The Night Fury hurried over and shoved into Hiccup's side rather firmly, letting out a defiant whine to not let him give up. Hiccup held Toothless' head still at being pushed and rubbed over the spines on the dragon's forehead to keep him calm.  
"Hey, hey, it's OK, Toothless...!" he cooed, trying to be reassuring as he knelt down to his friend's level. "Are you trying to tell me somethin', bud?" Toothless bobbed his head down once as confirmation, appearing worried with his continuous noises. Hiccup nodded in return as he got back to his feet. Astrid seemed a little puzzled by it all more than anything. They were already late for their patrols, this could wait until later, couldn't it?  
"Hiccup, maybe it's just..."  
"No," Hiccup interrupted her. "I'm sorry, but...I think Toothless wants me to figure this out now. He wouldn't come out all this way and do all this without a reason." Astrid looked down at Toothless, the dragon giving her much the same look of pleading to try again. She couldn't help but smile a little at the insistence as she rolled her shoulders with a bit of a sigh.  
"OK, dragon translation's better than other work for now." she admitted, brushing her fringe out of her face. "So what first?"  
"I don't know...maybe the spacing is throwing me off," Hiccup suggested, rewriting the letters beneath the original note without the gaps. "...oh."

 **DRAGOntootHLESSproTeCTgreatEstFRIeNDHIccUp**

Almost immediately that made things much easier. The pair of Vikings's eyes went wide when they began to see actual words they recognized amidst all the runes without the awkward spacing.  
"Dragon...tooth..." Astrid murmured, pointing out the words she found on the page with her finger.  
"Protect..." Hiccup nodded eagerly as he rewrote the words into something more legible beneath their initial note. He began to look over for any more words that made sense whilst jotting down what Astrid found beneath his first note. A few more moments of frantic scribbling at deciphering the wrong letter cases and spaces were all it would take before it suddenly dawned on Hiccup what his dragon was trying to say to him. His pencil clattered to the ground as he held onto his journal, vision fixed on the sentence now written before him. An actual sentence. And not just any sentence. A sentence from Toothless himself.

 **dragon toothless protect greatest friend hiccup**

Hiccup stopped, freezing in place as the words sank into his mind.  
"Toothless..." he started to say, unable to make his mouth do much as his thoughts stopped him speaking out loud. Astrid stared at the page over his shoulder with an equal amount of surprise as she pulled away from her leaned in posture.  
"Well, would you look at that," she mumbled, nudging Hiccup on the shoulder with a playful jab before crossing her arms. "Looks like you were right he wanted to tell you something." Hiccup didn't react to her hit and slowly lowered his journal from in front of his face to stare at Toothless. The Night Fury was sat by his creation in the ground, his eyes big and shiny as he took a tentative step forward towards the young chieftain as if to check whether he had succeeded in his task.

 _'Do you like it? I mean all of it.'_

Hiccup's mouth stayed open, the brisk air making it feel dry as he still felt unable to speak. He copied Toothless' action of a single forwards, eventually increasing his stride until he came within touching distance of the dragon's snout. Within an instant, the Viking had knelt to the ground and thrown his arms around the Night Fury's neck, squeezing him tightly towards him as he started to laugh and rub around the black scales.  
"Bud, you...you are just amazing! Attaboy!" he eventually exclaimed, refusing to let Toothless go even as the dragon's entire body started to move about excitedly. "Those were all words from the Book, weren't they? You wanted to try and use them with me!" The Night Fury must've been trying to remember these particular words in order to surprise Hiccup later, that's why he was reading them when Valka saw him. Toothless had learned to spell out just this one thing all for the sake of speaking what he couldn't speak. He was smarter than Hiccup had ever realized before. The dragon happily let out a yelp at Hiccup's hug, pushing his head down to nuzzle along the young man's hair as Astrid chuckled at the sight of the two together. Dweebs, both of them, but lovable all the same, her heart almost soaring at seeing Hiccup so elated at this discovery. She kept herself purposely back away from it all to continue watching, just as Hiccup relaxed his grip around Toothless' neck to hold the dragon's large head in his hands.  
"Toothless...you protect me? I'm your greatest friend? Is that what you meant, bud...?" he asked, his tone suggesting a hint of hesitation that he may have been mistaken. Toothless blinked once, pushing his head further forward to brush Hiccup's fringe with a huff of air to prove he wasn't. The young chief's smile was warmer than the sun as it shone towards the Night Fury with all the same affection he had shown that stormy night. His hand reached up to rub around Toothless' ear plates as his voice found strength again to speak.  
"You know, bud...you didn't have to do this," Hiccup said, keeping his voice hushed in case Astrid would tease him playfully about what he was going to say. Toothless's head tilted to the side in puzzlement at his human's words. "I'm so thankful you tried to learn all of this just to say that to me. I'm proud of you for figuring out how. But I already know what you wanted to say, bud. I know that you'll protect me. And I promise that I'll protect you too, until the end."  
Toothless vibrated, his tone almost shaky from the welling of emotion in his throat as even his tail began to sway like clockwork at his ecstatic mood. The pair of them remained together, lost in the warmth of each other's embrace until a voice broke them out of it.  
"You know we still have a patrol to finish when you two are through, right?" Astrid spoke up with a laugh, gesturing to the Arena entrance with her usual teasing look. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder with a nearly embarrassed smirk, rubbing over the back of his head after he released Toothless from his arms. Toothless nudged into his side with an insistent growl, his wings fluttering as if to invite them to take off and prove her wrong. Hiccup nodded his head in silent agreement and fluidly slid himself into the saddle on Toothless' back. He raised a brow at Astrid, his smile cocked up to one side of his face as Toothless moved his body low to the ground.  
"Then try to catch up, milady!" he called, just as the Night Fury's legs tensed and sent them rocketing forward, zooming past Astrid in a flurry of black scale and leather. Astrid herself barely ducked out of the way, shaking her head with a smirk of her own as she followed them out on foot. Stormfly would show them for sure!

* * *

As Hiccup and Toothless soared higher into the air to look over their ever dwindling in size home, Toothless paused their ascent to hover in place. He leaned back to keep his wings beating, turning his head towards his human in hope of getting more hand rubs. Hiccup was more than happy to dispense them, making sure to get all the right spots without risking their flight. A useful skill for a dragon rider.  
"You will _never_ cease to amaze me, bud. Thank you. Really." Toothless' ear plates fluttered as the vivid memory of their tandem ascension to leadership appeared in his mind at those words. Hiccup, with the wind running through his hair up here without worries or fear of the future, couldn't hide his pride. Though he did have a bit of advice in case Toothless wanted to try drawing again.  
"Just try not to destroy the Arena in the process next time, 'kay?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** _Sorry for the delay on this one! Illness and Christmas week together are never fun, buy I hope you enjoy either way!_


	6. Nightmare

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **6.** _ **Nightmare:**_ _The mind of a leader who is secretly afraid of what the future will hold can conjure horrors beyond description. That doubt and fear can cripple normal men. But normal men don't have Night Furies._

* * *

Chaos had erupted on Berk that night. On an unsuspecting evening when the residents had thought themselves to be safely asleep, the village had been overrun in a matter of minutes. Smoke was now pouring from the houses that still stood amidst the burning wreckage of the attack. The pathways were starting to run red from the casualties now strewn about the streets, both Viking and dragon alike. A massacre by definition. Hasty to get his revenge and even though he no longer had his former armored beasts to help him, a madman's sheer determination and fear mongering of the weaker willed tribes of the world had made his forces nearly as strong as before, if not more so. Drago Bludvist had spent years planning the events of today. He no longer wanted to simply control the monsters that allied themselves with the residents of this island. That defeat at the hands of the chief and the Alpha had stung too much, cut too deeply into his pride to let those disgusting creatures get away with it. All he wanted now was them all dead. He wanted them destroyed and burned and buried, just like everything else in his life that he had lost thanks to them. And now here he was.

His men had presented him with the last of Berk's brave dragon masters, the ones who had found a way to combat his own forces and somehow win against him so long ago. These three in particular had remained in his thoughts ever since his defeat, the numerous ways he could make them suffer having kept his fevered imagination occupied for days. And now, Drago found his dream within his grasp now they were here on their knees before him. His men were standing behind them with their weapons ready to enact his orders, just in case they refused to answer his demands. He silently hoped they would. It would give him a chance to inflict some real pain before they died. Drago paced between his three prisoners, his gaze glancing over the flaming ruins of Berk that surrounded them all. It had been a clever move for most of the village to go into hiding, but ultimately foolish. Their chief has always been afraid of conflict and he would make sure that the price of that cowardice would be paid. Now he just needed to know where they were.

Drago's brow lowered into a scowl as he focused his attention to the three Vikings before him, arms tied behind their backs to ensure they could no longer fight back. They had chosen to remain behind for whatever reason whilst the rest of the village had fled. Some noble reasons of protection through distraction or some such rubbish. But they hadn't been able to avoid capture for long. The blond haired young woman who had tried to bluff her way to freedom aboard his ship when they first met. The Dragon Thief who had dared to raise her staff against him at her Sanctuary. And finally, the famed Dragon Master, now dragonless and defenseless. They had tried to fight back against his men, but had been quickly overpowered by the sheer number Drago had brought with him. Now he would make sure to savour this as best he could.  
"Bring the chief here," Drago said after some silence, almost like he had been too distracted at admiring the devastation he had wrought this night. One of the men behind Hiccup grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly pushed him forward, the young man grunting as his front half slumped into the blood stained ground. Drago whirled on the spot, kneeling down to grab the chief by his throat and pull him upright. Hiccup spluttered at it, struggling for breath until the madman finally let him go. He coughed, trying to clear his airway as his hands struggled against the tight rope binds around his wrists. Drago chuckled, remaining knelt down as he looked his foe dead in the eye.  
"And here we are, 'Dragon Master'. If your father didn't feel shame before, he certainly would now." The conqueror sneered, directing Hiccup's attention to the bodies that still lay in the streets with a nod of his head. "They didn't have to die, you know. I just wanted to make a point. You cannot simply run from me. If you think you can, then it only proves that you're still _nothing_ in my presence." Hiccup remained silent, trying to keep staring at the ground instead of Drago's intimidating gaze.  
"You can't frighten us, Bludvist!" Valka yelled, pulling against her bonds in near desperation at seeing her son singled out for whatever Drago had planned. "We've bested you before and we'll best you again as many times as it takes!"  
"Brave words from someone who thought it best for their people to run like whelps rather than face me like men!"  
"We don't need to face you to win," Astrid growled, the image of her own battleaxe singing through the air towards Drago's head all too tempting a fantasy right now. "You can try and do what you want to us, but you'll _never_ find them and you'll _never_ take our dragons away again!" Drago resisted the urge to laugh. They still thought he was in the business of wanting Berk's dragons for himself? It was going to be a nasty shock to them when they discovered otherwise. He waved a hand, the men in charge of guarding the prisoners pulling at Astrid and Valka's ropes to keep them still. He instead refocused his attentions on the chief who had so far remained silent.  
"I know you tried to hide the dragons and the others from me," Drago continued. "Typical of you. You've always been a coward."  
"A chief protects his own. Which is more than I can say that you've ever done for anyone..." Hiccup hissed. He spat the words out with a menace that he rarely showed, his face caked with dirt and splatters of his own blood. He knew he was in no real position to be brave. Even in his attempts to simply be a distraction to Drago's men whilst the rest of Berk hid safely, he knew the deaths of the few that had been unable to escape were his fault. His greatest fear of not being able to protect was slowly being realized before his very eyes. Yet his scowl remained stern. Even disadvantaged, he would not give in to Drago's tactics. He couldn't.

Hiccup hated fighting. He hated the very concept of it, the horror and the bloodshed it left behind in its wake. Everything about it was wrong, solved nothing, and caused nothing but grief. The years of fighting among the dragons and now against these invaders had proven that time and time again. So he had chosen to avoid it entirely instead. To hide the dragons and the less battle ready villagers from their attackers, the chief and the warriors of Berk had rushed to move them into the cave systems underneath the island, places that Drago's forces knew nothing about. He had ordered Gobber and the other Riders to be in charge of moving the people underground whilst he had forced Toothless to stay with them for the sake of the dragons. The Alpha had objected. Almost violently. He had pleaded with his human not to go alone, refusing to stay put and had instead tried to follow him back to the surface. Hiccup had to make sure that Toothless stayed alive for the sake of the others. Without an Alpha, the dragons would be as lost as they were all those years ago and then Drago would truly have won. As much as he knew it had broken the Night Fury's heart to force them apart like this, Hiccup knew that Toothless' stubborn loyalty would only get him in trouble. Astrid and Valka, realizing that Hiccup going alone would be nearly suicide, had insisted they remain with him in the village against his initial orders given their past personal experiences with Drago. Together, they made a plan to be a distraction, something for Drago and his miniature army to focus on rather than searching the rest of the island. They hadn't realized just how little time they had before the combined forces of multiple tribes had overwhelmed them. Some hadn't made it. Whether they were human lives that had been extinguished by simply being too slow to escape to the caves or dragons that had bravely tried to defend their counterparts from their fate, it did them no good. Now, the scarred and mutilated bodies of both were littering the walkways of whatever of Berk remained left and the sight of each one tore up the chief inside. Hiccup's plan hadn't worked, at least not completely. His ideals of trying to keep the peace had failed him again because he didn't know what else to do. He never had learned how to do anything else in his quest to be a different kind of chief from his predecessors. But Hiccup knew he had to be brave despite the guilt. He had to be strong. If he broke now, he would not only have let those others die for the sake of this foolish plan, but also condemn everyone else he loved to the same fate.

 _'I won't let anything happen to you, Toothless. I'll be back, I promise.'_

"You say a chief protects his own and yet you can't even do it yourself. And you still try to defend the monsters that have taken lives from the villages of every man stood here?" Drago yelled aloud. The men who had chosen to ally with him nodded to themselves in silent agreement.  
" _You've_ manipulated these tribes into being scared of them!" Hiccup shouted back. "Dragons are not a threat to anyone! And yet you go on warmongering like it's the answer to everything! You don't want to help these people, you just want an excuse to make them do what you want!" The next thing Hiccup felt was a sudden blow to his gut, the wind being knocked out of him with a sickening thwack of metal against his armor. Using his prosthetic arm just seemed appropriate to Drago, beating some sense into his enemy who had lost a part of himself to dragons just as he had. At the moment of impact, he heard his other two prisoners call out their chief's name in surprise, prompting the men guarding them to strike them with the handles of their weapons to keep them quiet. Drago raised a brow as Hiccup struggled for air, moving his mouth towards the young man's ear so close that he could almost feel the boy shivering. A thin smile spread across his face.  
"I'm merely doing what they want me to. I offered them a way to be rid of these demons once and for all. No...'control', as you put it, necessary." Hiccup grit his teeth, closing his eyes to try and keep himself calm. Drago would not fool him. The world wanted peace. No one but madmen wanted war. Unfortunately, Drago was the latter.  
"Where are the dragons?" he demanded, his voice surprisingly quiet for how loud he could get. Hiccup didn't give a response, turning his head away from the conqueror in an act of defiance. Drago grunted and struck Hiccup again, his entire body heaving itself to the side to swing the heavy spiked prosthesis against the chief's face. With a shout of pain, Hiccup was knocked to the left from the impact. He began to feel the wet sensation of thin rivulets of blood starting to pour from the wound above his temple as he hit the ground.  
"Where are they?!" Drago screamed, raising his good arm in anticipation of another hit. Hiccup opened up the eye on the side of his head that hadn't been hit. He spat, a splatter of red painting the spot beneath him.  
"Do your worst, Drago, I'm not telling you a thing. You _won't_ have our dragons," he said calmly, sending a wave of rage running through the larger man's body. The chief was being defiant, even when he had been beaten. Well, there was an easy way to solve that. Drago grabbed Hiccup by the throat again, nearly fully picking him off the ground from the strength of his arm as the young Viking tried desperately to breathe. He was thrown back down to the ground again, now spun around to face both Astrid and Valka. Another splattering of blood hit the ground as Hiccup's head was tossed forward and as he tried to re-balance himself, Drago suddenly grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled it backwards, towering over him. Hiccup winced in pain as he stared down his foe in the eye.  
"Then let me say it another way," Drago began. "You either tell me where the dragons are. Or they die."

Hiccup's initial sense of bravado melted away like ice at those words, his eyes turning wide with a panicked gasp as Drago nodded at his men to take positions. The madman re-angled his hand so that Hiccup had no choice but to watch the scene before him, his head being held in place no matter how hard he was struggling to escape. Both Astrid and Valka grunted, pulling against their restraints until the chilled sensation of a blade was pressed against their necks.  
"Astrid! Mom!" Hiccup's breathing came out in shaky exhales. Even his attempt at being defiant was starting to unravel. He was running blank on ideas. What was he supposed to do?  
"Hiccup! Don't tell him anything!" Astrid yelled. She remained resistant as ever, even despite the situation. "You need to keep the others safe, don't listen to him!"  
"She's right, son! Save the others, don't let Drago take them!" Valka joined in, her expression just as brave even when the blade of her captor's sword pressed harder into her skin. Sensing that the chief wasn't getting the point, Drago nodded his head towards the solider behind Valka. He pressed with his blade, actually digging into the flesh enough that the sight of the blood beginning to spill made fear course through Hiccup's system.  
"Stop! Stop it!" Hiccup yelled, causing the men to ease their grip on their weapons. "Don't, I'll...!"  
"Hiccup, no!" Valka interrupted, her face remaining strong despite how her heart tore seeing her son so afraid. "Don't say anyth-"  
"ENOUGH!" Drago screamed, his hand gripping tighter against Hiccup's head and making the young chief feel like the bone was going to give way from the pressure. "Where did you hide the dragons?!" Hiccup grit his teeth, grunts of pain barely escaping as he struggled to maintain his silence. His hands were shaking, grabbing against the ropes keeping him bound just to have something to hold on to. He had to bite his tongue, literally, to stop him blurting out the answer. He had to save them both, it was his fault they were here! He couldn't let them fall for his mistake. But...he couldn't betray the village. Not under any circumstances.

Stoick had told him this would be something he would need to do years ago. A chief had to make the hard decisions. Decisions that could mean the difference between who lived and who died. But how were you supposed to know what was the right choice until it was too late? How was Hiccup supposed to know what to do when dealing with someone like Drago, a man to which the rules didn't apply? If he decided poorly, two people who meant more to him than any other on Berk would be added to the list of casualties this day. Unless... Drago was bluffing. If he really wanted them all dead, he would've done it by now, right? He could do it easily, a single slip of the wrist and there'd be three cut throats and yet he hadn't carried it out. That had to be it. There couldn't be in any real danger, could there? But that was only if Hiccup was right in what he was thinking. He glanced between Astrid and Valka, the pair of them nodding their heads slowly as if to give him permission to resist Drago's command. They were prepared for the consequences as long as it kept the rest of Berk safe.  
"They're hidden somewhere you won't find them!" Hiccup eventually yelled, his teeth almost grinding themselves against each other as a sudden fear of being wrong swept over his emotions. He was praying in his head, closing his eyes and hoping with his entire being that Drago wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He almost felt relief when Drago seemed to hesitate at a next step. The towering figure looked between the young chief and his companions in tandem before he simply raised his hand.  
"Fine." The confidence Hiccup had in his choice reduced to nothing but an afterthought when Drago gave a cutting motion across his neck to his men, the young chief straining against his bonds even as his captor held him still. Astrid gasped, pulling against her bonds in a desperate effort to get to her love. Valka did the same, the three of them screaming to one another as if it would somehow stop what was coming.

"Hiccup!"  
"Son!"  
"NO!"

The next few seconds played in horrifying slow motion for Hiccup. He couldn't even register what had happened straight away. Just near hazy glimpses as his brain refused to process what he saw. Looks of shocked terror on the faces of people he loved, the sudden slicing motions of blades, sickening wet sounds of gasping for breath. And blood. So much blood. The heavy forms of both his mother and the love of his life fell to the ground in near silence, landing in thick pools of red pouring from their necks with gut wrenching twitches and disgusting noises of air gurgling out of the wounds, just as that word finished forcing its way out of Hiccup's lungs. There was no slow welling of tears. They just spilled out of his eyes like waterfalls as he screamed at the ground in sheer anguish at what he was seeing.  
"NO!" Hiccup howled, his eyes transfixed on the gruesome sight before him. "No, no, no, please...!" The Viking wept, the dirt on his face clinging to the tracks of moisture the tears left behind.

 _"Astrid... Mom... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I'm sorry! It's my fault... please...don't be gone...you can't be...!"_

Hiccup kept begging to himself quietly over and over, his thoughts pleading to whatever gods were out there to undo his terrible mistake. This had to be a bad dream, a nightmare he just needed to wake up from. The only response to his wish was Drago aiming a well placed kick at the middle of his spine to send him face first into the ground. He wasn't even being given time to grieve. No gods would save him from this mistake. He might as well have killed them both himself. And if he was wrong again, the rest of the island was sure to follow. Drago himself was fuming inside. This was ridiculous! Even with his own family members threatened with death, the Dragon Master had still refused to talk. It almost made him feel ill at this insect's casual disregard for human life to protect the dragons. He should just kill the chief and burn the rest of this island to the ground for trying to defy his will. Drago was seriously considering it as he glared down at the still weeping boy. But suddenly, Drago had an idea. A devious idea that would kill two birds with one stone. Or, in this case, kill two Alphas. If the chief of Berk refused to budge with his stance of protecting the reptilian monsters even when given the possibility of losing his own villagers, then perhaps the monsters themselves would do the job.

The Night Fury always came running. Even through to the end of their last battle, it had fought and struggled to protect the chief whenever something happened to him. So if Drago could find a way to bring it here, he would know where the others are. And that meant having to do something he'd wanted to do for years.  
"You sicken me. You'd let them die rather than betray the dragons!" Drago mocked, Hiccup refusing to look up from his crumpled position on the ground as the blood of the latest victims started to stain his hair. He looked shell shocked, like he was unable to process what had just happened. "If you're not going to talk when they're threatened, then it makes me wonder what will!" the madman continued to taunt, grabbing Hiccup's hair once more and forcing another grunt of pain from the young man. "So...let's find out how good the hearing of a dragon is."  
Hiccup didn't have a chance to understand what Drago meant before he was suddenly hit by something. Something that made a nasty tearing sound through the back of his armor and pierced right through to the skin. The Viking screamed. As Drago's bull hook pierced into his back, drawing thick lines of red into his now exposed flesh, the weapon tugged and tore through whatever was in its way. Hiccup's back arched, his body wracked with sheer agony from the curved blade cutting into his torso, his cries of pain only amplified by the loss he had suffered mere moments ago before Drago finally ripped the weapon away. Hiccup fell forward, heaving as he struggled to even remember what he was trying to resist at this point. His mind was shutting it out just to try and overcome the sensation of pain setting his nerve ends on fire. At least, until the next hit. As the next strike made contact, Hiccup cried out again, his hands threatening to tear at the ropes they were bound in as Drago almost seemed to cackle at making the 'great leader' of Berk suffer in this way. As the bull hook became temporarily stuck in some of the leather that hadn't torn properly, Drago unhooked it with a grunt before giving a gesture to the men around him. Hiccup saw them begin to move, hiding behind some of the structures that still lay around the scene before them, their outlines barely illuminated by the flames. Like they were waiting for something. He still wasn't given a chance to think about what they were doing before Drago kicked him over onto his now sliced up back, the bull hook blade raising up into the air before is suddenly thrust downwards. Once more, Hiccup's yells of pain pierced the night air as the edge of the blade stabbed into his side, treating his outfit like it was wet paper from the good it did. Blood spurted from the wound, staining the ground and Hiccup's clothing before he grew quiet again, his tear stained face grimacing at what he was having to go through. Drago wasn't going for the kill. He was deliberately trying to draw out the pain and torture him. But Hiccup didn't know why. Why wouldn't Drago just kill him?  
"You...what are you doing...?" he managed to groan, his voice hoarse from his cries of pain and guilt. Hiccup was cut off when a distant sound caught his attention. A sound that was all too familiar to him, just as Drago's sinister grin showed itself once again.  
"That..." the former Dragon God muttered, pointing his now blood-stained hook towards the source of the noise. It was getting louder, the heavy beating of air against the ground and frantic running footsteps on the ground. Hiccup knew instantly what it was. Drago had lured him here on purpose. As much as he had ordered his friend not to, the chief knew that the dragon would never leave him alone if he heard cries of distress.

"T-Toothless, no! Get away, it's a trap!"

Despite his protests, Hiccup couldn't stop his dragon even if he wasn't tied up. In a matter of a moments, the familiar black outline of a Night Fury burst from around the corner, soaring through the air in a pouncing motion and sending a fireball straight towards Drago. He had heard Hiccup crying in agony all the way down in the caves thanks to the nearby well. It made his entire being ache just as bad at knowing his rider was in distress and yet he was forced to stay and protect the other dragons. Alpha status be damned. Whatever this nasty trapper had done, he would not make Hiccup hurt again! Those sounds had made Toothless act almost by instinct, the former idea of obeying his rider's orders far removed from his mind as he raced to save his Hiccup from harm. With a trusty plasma blast in the signature style of a Night Fury attack, Toothless watched as his burning projectile raced through the air towards Drago. His foe simply raised his cloak and deflected the fire away thanks to the dragon skin it was cut from, just as the other men leaped out from their hiding positions. A group of five, each armed with weapons, jumped onto the dragon to pin him down in an ambush, the Night Fury roaring in frustration as he was literally tackled out of the air. It was like the arena all over again.  
"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, Drago grabbing him by the ropes around his wrists to keep him steady as the dragon was pulled to the ground. Drago's men yelled in their own exertions to keep the Night Fury solidly grounded as Toothless resisted and tried to kick them away. He partially succeeded as his tail whipped one of the men near his back legs, roaring as his front claw swept another off his feet. The dragon prepared to pounce towards Drago again, growling furiously at what the madman had done to his rider. But Toothless found himself stopping when Drago raised his hook blade to Hiccup's neck, the blood dripping from it almost frightening the dragon with imagining what it could be from. Was that Hiccup's blood...? Toothless whined at the threat, his resistance to his captors growing weaker until he eventually let the men keep him held down on the ground. They planted a heavy weapon on each limb and wing that they could muster and the Night Fury didn't stop them. If he had to be captured to save Hiccup, he would be. Anything to save him. Hiccup mentally cursed at his dragon for being so loyal.  
"Toothless, _no_! Forget about me, get out of here!" Hiccup pleaded, his tears threatened to show themselves again. "I can't let them take you too, _please_!" Toothless flinched at the shouting, unable to understand why his Hiccup was so upset. He was here to help, they'd get out of this together like they always did. What was there to be afraid of? And that was when the dragon noticed the two bodies to his left that remained lying in deep puddles of crimson. Toothless knew who they were just from the smell, his horrified expression turning back towards his Hiccup as the young chief threatened to cry once again.  
"They...th-they're gone...they're gone and it's my fault..."  
"Indeed, it is. And if you try anything, dragon, he's going to join them!" Drago spoke up, slamming his bull hook into the ground near Toothless' head as a warning. The Night Fury only momentarily flinched, disregarding Drago completely as all his concern focused on his human. He knew his Hiccup would never do this, he shouldn't blame himself. A sympathetic croon vibrated its way along the ground towards Hiccup, a noise that always lifted his spirits. But now, the young Viking couldn't feel it. He couldn't see a way out of this, waiting to hear Drago's inevitable demands as the madman circled the two.  
"So, the two Alphas of Berk, brought to kneel before me so easily!" Drago gloated, acting the closest to a positive emotion that Hiccup had ever seen him manage and causing the men he had brought with him to laugh in sync with him. The braids of the conqueror's hair blew loosely about in the night wind as he knelt down towards the still immobilized Hiccup.  
"Now, you have one last chance, 'Dragon Master'. Tell me, right now, where the rest of these vermin are hiding. And I'll let you both live." Drago ordered, gesturing towards Toothless with a tone of disdain.  
"Drago... please... I'm begging you to stop this..." Hiccup mumbled, his usual energetic self having long since died thanks to the night's events. He sounded pathetic. "You... don't need to do this... no one else has to die..." Drago could only laugh again at having so easily broken the famed master of dragons, even as he vainly tried to offer peace as usual.  
"Is that a refusal to answer, I hear? Because if it is..." With those words explaining the threat of failure to comply without saying it outright, Hiccup suddenly understood why Drago had lured Toothless here. A panic greater than anything he had felt before overwhelmed his senses now that the last bit of family he had left was faced with extinction. As a sneer spread over Drago's lips, Hiccup shook his head frantically, struggling to right himself being tied up as he was.  
"No...! Please, you can't!"  
"Too late!" the man roared fiercely. "I've waited years to break you, you dragon sympathizing scum! You've just given me the perfect excuse!" Drago whirled on the spot, grabbing his bull hook from the ground and jabbing it downwards as a final order before he walked behind Hiccup's body. "Such a shame to send off the last of them. Kill it."  
"NO!" the chief screamed, the Night Fury whining back at him as the pair of them struggled against their bonds. Toothless whimpered, staring at Hiccup with his usual big loving eyes as if to hope that his human had a plan. Hiccup always had a plan. They would get out of this, wouldn't they?

Wouldn't they...?

One of the men holding Toothless down grabbed at the dragon's head, raising it up off the ground as a sword was pressed underneath it. Toothless cried out in distress at feeling cold steel press against his scales, the rest of his body wriggling and forcing itself to try and break free against the weight of men holding him down. Hiccup was still being help firmly back by Drago's own strength, despite how he was still vainly trying to reach his beloved dragon in time.  
"Toothless! TOOTHLESS!" he yelled, his voice threatening to crack from how much it been exerted today. "STOP! PLEASE, DON'T!" The man in charge of the weapon merely turned his nose up at the suggestion and went back to his 'craft', readying his hand. Toothless became still, his eyes wide and pathetic as his ear plates slowly drooped down against his neck. He whimpered, seeming to plead with his human to save them both. Yet he was still seeming to slowly realize what was going to come next. And there was nothing either of them could do to stop him. Hiccup and his dragon stared at each other, the moment seeming to slow to a standstill as both of their eyes began to fill with tears. For Hiccup, it had happened one time too many today. And yet he couldn't help his friend, his family, the one scrap of love he had left in the world after his own actions. His own decisions had caused this. He had lost his father, the man who had expected him to lead Berk to greatness but would instead lead it to ruin. He had lost his mother, the one who had shown him the true majesty of dragons and his lineage. He had lost the love of his life, the girl who stole his heart and aided him through thick and thin. And now, he was going to lose his dragon. The one other soul in this world who reflected his own. The one whom his love for knew no bounds. As Hiccup's mouth hung open, the words refusing to come to him, the thug in charge of the sword cut.

The sights that Hiccup saw were beyond description. The sounds that he heard were beyond processing. And the feelings were something he could never forget. No one had ever heard a Night Fury scream before. And they never would again after tonight. The horrendous screeching of utter fear of the end drowned out everything around it. The blood spilled thick and red in quantities not thought possible, the majestic creature's pupils turning to slits as the energy of his body drained out in horrible spurts and sprays to the ground. Toothless' wings and tail twitched and flailed in terror, his muscles seeming to spasm the more the blade cut into his body. Hiccup couldn't even hear himself screaming. He couldn't hear anything except for Toothless' howl driving into his skull. All he could feel was the most painful feeling of guilt and remorse in the world. He had only felt a taste of it when he had lost his mother and Astrid. He had felt the fear of it when faced with the prospect of the entire village being wiped out. But now, the true realization as he watched the light drain from his beloved Night Fury's eyes hit him. The realization of his failure. The realization he was alone. The realization that he had doomed everyone under his care. The realization that everyone he knew would soon be dead.

Because of him.

* * *

"TOOTHLESS!"

Hiccup bolted upright as he screamed, his voice screeching into the silence of the night loud enough to probably wake up all of Berk. His heart felt like it was going to rip itself free from the confines of his rib cage, the dull thudding of its beating ringing in his ears like the island's horn sirens. His breathing rattled through the dryness of his throat as he hurriedly spun his head about to try and get a sense of where he was. Drago wasn't here. Neither were those men. He wasn't outside amidst the burning remains of his home. He was safely inside it, laying in bed with the only noise apart from the constant pumping of his heart being the sudden rushing of footsteps moving towards him, quiet as they were.  
"Hiccup! Son, what's wrong? Is Toothless OK?" The voice of his mother broke Hiccup out of his stupor, making him jump as Valka's face came into the light from the lantern on his desk in her usual sleek way of maneuvering. She grabbed his hands, alarmed that they were shaking harder than if he were in a blizzard, one of her own reaching up to brush over his face. Hiccup seemed shocked to see her.  
"Mom... gods..." he panted out, leaning towards her to properly hug around her torso. The former Dragon Thief smiled warmly to mask her worry, rubbing her hands over her son's back to keep him calm.  
"Shh, shh, it's alright. A bad dream...?" she asked, relaxing her grip on Hiccup as she brushed his sweat drenched hair from his brow. "You've been working so hard lately, it's no wonder your head's running wild at night. Are you alright?" Hiccup wasn't sure, his mother did have a point. The day to day stresses of revitalizing Berk's defenses had kept his mind occupied for the past month. Sleepless nights had been a common occurrence, but he would've preferred to still have them rather than seeing those horrors. Especially since that dream was focused on an evacuation plan he had started to draw up only the previous day.  
"I... I don't..." Hiccup's words were cut off when he felt the familiar warmth and vibrations of Toothless pushing into his stomach, his tear stained eyes stinging as his mind caught up with the reality of his situation.  
"Bud... oh, Toothless, you're safe..." he muttered, his entire body leaning forward to hug against his dragon's head tighter than he had ever done before. The vice like grip of his human's hands made Toothless only feel more concern as to the origin of the loud burst of noise that had woken up the rest of the house. The Night Fury crooned at his rider, looking towards Valka with a face that implored her to find out what was wrong. She nodded her head, leaning in towards her babe with a warm smile.  
"You're safe now. Even the bravest of chiefs have nightmares that can rattle them," she assured him. Hiccup opened his eyes, keeping his head rested against Toothless' own as he nodded slowly. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No," Hiccup blurted out quickly, shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry I woke you. It was just a dream, right? I'm fine." Valka frowned, not seeming convinced.  
"You don't need to put on the brave face, Hiccup. You can tell me." The young Viking hesitated, relaxing his grip on Toothless' head and moving back towards a properly sat up position. He sighed, sniffing and rubbing at his still damp eyes.  
"It was...it was Drago. He came back to the island after I tried to protect everyone, hide them from him. But I couldn't save them. I couldn't save you, I couldn't save Toothless and I watched you all..." Valka placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder to hush him, already being able to tell it was a hard thing to recall from the tone of his voice. Some gentle motherly encouragement seemed like it would do the job to ease his still active mind.  
"Listen, Hiccup. With everything you've done, with everything that this island has managed to build under your leadership, Drago will never get to us. He may threaten us, he may bring armies. But I promise you, son, you will prevail. As you always have." Valka shifted her body closer to Hiccup and wrapped him in a hug once more, holding him tightly to her chest. "You're a kind soul in a world that doesn't like the idea. You have your family, you have your dragon and you have everyone on this island behind you. And that's what will be Bludvist's downfall." Hiccup breathed a big sigh of relief, one that was surely needed as his tired body finally began to relax. Valka always knew what to say to soothe his frantic and panicked thoughts. He held onto her just as firmly for a fleeting second before she pulled away, pressing her lips softly onto his forehead. Hiccup dared a slight smile.  
"Kissing it all better too, huh?"  
"You forget you're still a babe to me" Valka replied calmly, ruffling his head playfully before standing up. "Try and get some rest if you can, dear. You know where I am if you need me."  
"I will... thanks, Mom." The look of Valka's smile soothed Hiccup as she began to move towards the stairs in her usual quiet-footed manner.

As she disappeared from sight, Toothless came close again, gently nudging into Hiccup's side with an insistent rumble to check whether his human was alright. Hiccup smiled, once again wrapping his arms around the Night Fury's head and tightly squeezing it close to his chest. Toothless snorted as he was tugged forward, but quickly settled with a content growl that vibrated its way into the bed frame.  
"Hey, bud? Could you...stay here for a bit?" The question made the dragon's ear plates flutter as he simply bobbed his head down once in an answer, shuffling his legs into a more comfortable sitting position as Hiccup began to lay back. Toothless' head laid on the bed, pushing into the chief's hand and nuzzling him softly to try and keep his spirits up. Bad dreams were always icky and he would do his best to help Hiccup be rid of such unpleasant memories. Hiccup's smile remained for moment as he idly brushed his fingers over the Night Fury's snout. Though when he saw Toothless looking up at him with those huge adoring eyes of his, it faded. The same eyes had been staring at him in the same way moments before...  
 _'No. I won't let that happen.'_ Hiccup thought to himself, trying to keep his fears under control might have felt scared deep down. Keeping that fear in check and hidden for the sake of everyone else had manifested itself into that horrendous dream. But Hiccup was determined he would never see that vision come true. He didn't want to see the ones he loved in such danger. He didn't want to see Berk in ruins thanks to his actions. He didn't want to watch Toothless die. That last thought stayed with him as Hiccup shifted onto his side, once against embracing Toothless' head into his arms to keep close. Almost like he was afraid he wouldn't get to do so again if he let go. The Night Fury sniffed at Hiccup's hands as they brushed over his nose, seeming to almost smile at the company of his human's touch. Hiccup himself gently nuzzled at the space between Toothless' eyes with his nose. He wasn't tired enough to go to sleep again and, after tonight, he didn't want to. But even just spending some time alone in the company of his dragon was enough to ease his mind.

Nightmares are something you never really get used to, not when you're in the position of a chieftain who sometimes felt out of his depth when it came to the future. But their lingering pain can always be eased when you have someone you love close by. Hiccup kept that idea in his thoughts as he continue to embrace Toothless.

 _'I won't let anything happen to you, bud. I promise'._


	7. Raw

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 **7.** _ **Raw:**_ _As the second anniversary of the Battle Of The Bewilderbeast draws near, a traumatized dragon hears something that seems to confirm his guilt over that day. Now Hiccup must fix his mistake or face dooming their friendship when they need each other the most._

* * *

They used to say that time flew when you were having fun. They never did say anything about what time did when you were busy though. Especially if you were busier than you ever thought you had the capacity to be. That's all that time seemed to be used for on Berk these days. Doing your duties, working, keeping the peace, all of it. At least for one particular resident. No one ever seemed to ever question who 'they' were either, the ones who came up with that sort of wording in the first place. Hiccup always thought that was odd, how it was just always there in the common knowledge of the people. Almost to the point they took it for granted.  
 _'I think 'they' need to think more logically whenever they make a new traditional phrase,'_ he thought to himself. He was currently sat at one of Berk's cliff edges, staring out over the setting sun as the sky blazed a dark red. It was beautiful, a moment of calm before the inevitable storms would roll into this part of the world. The clouds acted like arches overheard, curves of white that seemed to frame the half-disc of sunlight that peeked over the horizon as if to emphasise its beauty. The wind was enough to make the messy locks of his hair shift in place a little, but not strong enough to make it feel bitterly cold.

There was a reason for Hiccup's reflection on such a topic. Taking things for granted, assuming they'll always be there. That last part stung in his chest, a weight pressing down on his heart that felt awfully familiar. It had happened before, just over a year ago and for good reason. Tomorrow was the anniversary of the Battle Of The Bewilderbeast. Two years to the day that he lost his father. It didn't feel right to call it that. You don't celebrate deaths like you do a real anniversary. The same feeling clamping around his torso had happened during the first landmark a year ago, that sick twisted mixture of nausea and chest pain that seemed to flare up whenever his mind wandered towards the subject. It wasn't nice to deal with, not when every day was a subtle reminder he was doing the job his father had been doing before that night without his guidance. Sure, Hiccup had put it aside for the greater good, embraced his duty and become a good leader for the village. Some had even said the best, given what he had achieved in such a short time. The fact he would be making Stoick proud of him was enough to push back the lingering feelings that still remained in the day to day. But now that this event was coming around again, Hiccup found himself stopping and reflecting on how things could've been different. They nearly had been, only set in stone by fractions of measurements. If he had stepped a little too much to the right, if his father had been a meter closer to him, if Toothless had resisted the urge to fire for a split second longer... who knew what it would be like? Would he still be chief or would Stoick? Would Drago have won or lost? Would they have both died or would they have survived? It was impossible to say, but Hiccup's analytical brain wouldn't stop going over those possibilities, not when the memory of that battle was looming over tomorrow like the shadow of Timberjack wing. He rolled his eyes at his own behavior, wrapping his arms around himself and idly brushing over his stomach with his right hand as he did so. That would've been the spot where he could've taken the hit instead. He had nearly tried doing this exact thing last year, thought about going off into a sulk for most of the day. He had wanted to at the time. He'd thought that doing that and keeping all this negativity away from everyone was the best thing to do. Letting his mind wander through other topics would surely help. Luckily, since rebuilding the damage from Drago's attack was more substantial than anyone had guessed, he'd managed to get through last year's anniversary just fine with no one the wiser thanks to that rebuilding. But now without that task to hone in on, something about this year felt wrong. Like it wouldn't be so easy to contain his feelings about what had happened after bottling it up for so long. He wasn't sure he could manage it twice in a row.

 _'I'll be fine. You would be, right, Dad? You wouldn't get all teary eyed and blubbery over this stuff, huh? Occupational hazard...'_  
The thought rolled around Hiccup's brain like it was ricocheting off the insides of his skull. He knew he wouldn't get an answer to it, but logical thinking never did come clearly when you were emotional, even for someone like him. He'd keep it together though. That view of the sunset was doing wonders for him right now and he wouldn't want to drag anyone else down with this brief low mood. He'd be fine by tomorrow. He would have to be. However, someone else had a different idea on how to cope when the young chief felt something nudge at his back, along with an insistent growling.  
"Oh, hey there, bud," Hiccup said matter-of-factly, reaching out one of his hands to briefly rub his fingertips over Toothless' nose as he continued to look out over the sea from this rock cliff perch. As the limb fell and rested in his lap again, the dragon seemed puzzled. Hiccup had been here for a long time, enough to make Toothless a little wary of the situation and curious enough to investigate as the time had ticked on. His rider had been known to get thoughtful moods sometimes, but this seemed deeper than normal. The Night Fury warbled, pushing his snout into Hiccup's side to try and get his attention, maybe take his mind off whatever it was he was thinking about. After all, he hadn't seen his human most of the day, having been too preoccupied with his own duties as the Alpha to have chance to search or even remember what tomorrow was. Hiccup didn't even seem to flinch at the attempt as his arm repeated its previous action and stroked between Toothless' ear plates.  
"Should be getting inside soon, bud, only going to get colder this late," he said, his gaze not once leaving that sunset. Toothless pulled his head back, tilting it to the side for a moment before he too looked out over the waves. He had to admit it did look really pretty, his wings adjusting themselves as he sat still. His Hiccup's behavior was... strange. It made him feel uncomfortable to know something was bothering the Viking without knowing what it was, making him croon in worry in a resonating tone that vibrated through Hiccup's eardrums. The young chief looked towards his dragon with a soft smile, raising up one of his hands to rest on the Night Fury's nose like they had done so many years ago. But before Toothless had a chance to savor the contact in a mimicry of that day, Hiccup's digits slipped away and made the dragon's expression sour. That was far too brief. It wasn't right. His rider seemed to at least notice that.  
"I'm fine, Toothless, really. I just need some time to think on stuff, OK? I'll be inside soon." Toothless wasn't convinced, not one iota, pressing one of his claws into the ground as it clicked in his head why Hiccup was acting like this.

 _'It's about father, isn't it?'_

But before Toothless had a chance to try and vocalize his thought, he'd already lost the human's attention, the Viking's eyes back staring into the distance as though they'd never spoken. The Night Fury exhaled sadly. He would be courteous and leave his human be, even if it made him feel sad that he wasn't 'needed' at the moment. He bobbed his head once in understanding with a soft rumble, pausing once to look over the edge of his wing before slowly making his way back to the house. Maybe it was because... no, it couldn't be that.  
There had been a lot of these times lately, especially in the build up to this anniversary. Times when Toothless felt nearly helpless to aid his rider in feeling better. Stoick's death had been something caused by his own hand after all. Indirectly or not, he had cast the flame that had ended the chief's life. It was something he toiled over just as much as Hiccup did inside, near constantly for weeks after that terrible event. The memories of that event, the way he saw Stoick's very body burn because of his own power. It chilled him. Made him feel worthless. Toothless didn't want to hurt anyone else, so much so that he had become reserved and quiet most of the time unless he was in Hiccup's presence. His incredible guilt was obvious to anyone to see, the trauma of being taken over by that monster had shaken him to his very core. He'd be the first to admit he'd been selfish in wanting attention at first and his human had done his best to assure him otherwise of his role in Stoick's death. For months and now technically years after it had happened, Hiccup had been the same way he had always been with him. He'd cared, he'd spoken softly, he'd been there for him.  
 _It wasn't your fault, bud._  
 _It wasn't you. You would never do that._  
 _You helped save us all. I'm proud of you, Toothless._  
That warm tone of the Viking was more than enough to keep the worries buried away beneath the surface. The Night Fury loved him for that. But now it was Hiccup's turn to doubt and think too hard. And without that constant assurance, the paranoia always came back. Without those words and touches and just being with his other half, it always came back. Sometimes it made Toothless wonder. Maybe Hiccup didn't want to talk because the dragon was the one responsible for that day being important in the first place. He hated that idea, the suggestion that he could bring such awful feelings to his human. But after what had happened, how could things ever be like the way they were before? How could they act like nothing ever happened? And after all the pain he had caused his other half, was he really forgiven? Did he deserve to have been saved from the Bewilderbeast...?  
No. That was silly talk. Absurdity. Hiccup would never lie to him like that. He just... had moments sometimes, right? Everyone did. He'd be fine. Just needed time, like he said.  
Yes. That was it. Toothless hoped.

* * *

Even as the day had turned to darkness, Hiccup had remained long after the sun had slipped over the edge of the earth, leaving nothing but twinkling starlight in its wake. The rest of Berk was indoors, or at least most of them were, making Hiccup feel almost as though it was just him alone on the island. He'd stretched out a few times, doodled in his notebook as an exercise to distract his troubled mind. In a way, it was comforting to be by himself like this. Just enough of a barrier between the realities of being chief and his internal thoughts on this anniversary so that he could sort things out in his head. Though, even with what he had tried, he hadn't made much progress on it. Even now, hours after he'd tried to make himself stable enough to deal with tomorrow, he was still a bit of a mental mess, going over the same scenarios and ideas in his head like they were stuck in a loop. Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair with an exasperated sigh, stretching out the prosthetic limb hanging over the edge of the rock in mild paranoia it would seize up in the cooler air. What on earth was he doing? Just moping to himself? He was better than this, he knew he was.  
"Come on, Hiccup, get over it," he hissed at himself. "It's been two _years_. Dad would hit you with the blunt end of an axe for letting yourself get this way again. You're the chief. Be strong."  
But saying and doing were two different things. Something all too obvious to the person making their way over behind Hiccup's back.

"Apparently chieftains are also immune to the passage of time as well as the cold, huh?"  
The voice out of the relative silence of the night made Hiccup jerk up to alert status with a yelp, placing a hand on his chest as if to make sure his heart was still beating from such a shock. He huffed, crossing his arms as Astrid sat beside him, the young woman brushing her braid over her shoulder as she settled next to him with a smirk.  
"You know, I could easily make it a punishable offence to sneak up on people when they're in deep thought. I am in charge, you know..."  
"You could do that, but I know you won't," she replied simply, folding her legs to the side to lean in a little closer.  
"Yeah..." Hiccup replied simply, rolling his shoulders with another exhale as the cool breeze tingled his skin. "Sorry about being... 'away'. Been distracted."  
"I noticed," Astrid commented, her former jolly expression having twisted into one of concern in a matter of seconds. "I didn't even see you at breakfast like usual. Have you really been here all day?"  
"Not all day, no. A lot of it though."  
"Morning kisses not enough of a reason to show up?"  
Hiccup's lack of reaction to Astrid's attempt at humor made a surge of emotion run through her. Not a good emotion either. She brushed her hands tenderly over his own, squeezing her fingers in between the gaps and holding them together in their laps as her voice became quiet.  
"... are you alright?" Hiccup hesitated in an answer. He shouldn't say anything. Just deal with it and move on like a grown up. Like a Viking. It was a shame that he never did follow the Viking code very well though. He eventually ceased the biting of his lower lip to speak.  
"You know what tomorrow is, right? Well... that." Astrid kept her focus on her boyfriend with a slight tilt of her head as he continued to speak. "And yeah, I know. 'Hiccup, you've had to deal this before already last year, you'll be fine!' " he exclaimed, putting on a fake Viking brogue to his voice as if to mock his own mood. "I can't help it. Something about it still gets me."  
Astrid didn't say anything at first either. When Hiccup had been upset in the past, even all those years ago when it concerned Viggo and the first time they flew out to find Drago, he hadn't wanted to listen. And she accepted that was just how Hiccup dealt with his problems sometimes. Just time to himself enough to think and sort his emotions out. But even last year hadn't been this bad, the amount of rebuilding work they had been doing for such a long time probably having been too much of a concern for him to focus on anything else. Without that, this year was different.  
"You know..." Astrid began, taking a long pause when she noticed Hiccup was still staring out across the ocean. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of seeing you like this. It doesn't look right. And I also know that you don't like it when people pry. But I hate it when you're sad." Hiccup slowly looked back at her with a weak smile. As much as her care was appreciated, he looked exhausted. Dark rings around his eyes stood out against his pale face in the equally pale moonlight, almost like he hadn't slept.  
"Come on, Astrid. Me having a moment of self-loathing? What else is new," he stated dryly. Astrid didn't find it funny and squeezed his hands tighter as if to force him to tell.  
"Hiccup, please. If tomorrow's going to bother you, shutting it away won't help. You can tell me. Maybe getting it off your chest will help." Her partner stayed silent for a moment before he smirked a little to himself. Well, it was either be honest or risk a punch to the arm at this point. Been a while since she'd done that.  
"You know what I always wondered? How do you do it?" he asked, confusing his girlfriend at what he meant. "How do you... get over stuff like this? When Mom disappeared, I was too young to know what grief was. Even during the War, I was either too sheltered inside out of harm's way to notice anyone had gone or all you guys were just too good at staying alive through all the fighting for it to be a problem. And here I am now still wondering if I'll ever just be able to man up and get on with what I have to." Hiccup's trademark gestures with his arms throughout his dialogue were enough to made Astrid smile, just a little. There was a fraction of the Hiccup she knew in there still, shuffling herself a bit closer to try and pry it out.  
"It's not a case of just getting used to it," she explained. "It's always hard to come to terms with stuff like this and I wish I could say it gets easier but it isn't. When anyone thinks on lost family, it will hurt. But also think on how you've done amazingly so far despite all of it. I mean, two years as chief, Hiccup! I still remember when you were telling me it wasn't for you at all."  
"I still don't think it's for me sometimes."  
"And why not?" she continued. "You fought off Drago Bludvist and beat him at his own game, even without your dragon. You rebuilt the entire island with your leadership faster than anyone could've done. Everyone's honoured you're in charge."  
"But-"  
"No buts. You're fine at this, babe. I don't think you have a reason to worry. Tomorrow is... just another day. And that's all it should be."  
"...yeah," Hiccup replied, nodding his head. Astrid did have a point. Even if he wished that Stoick could be around to give advice or some idea of how to handle the more delicate situations right now, the fact that it wasn't just Astrid speaking so highly of him was a good indication he was doing his father proud. Astrid herself knew it to be true and seemed pleased that her love had accepted her words. But that wasn't all there was to it. Something else was bothering Hiccup, otherwise that dour look wouldn't still be plastered to his features. Sensing she was making some success with getting out the truth, Astrid pushed a little bit harder.  
"Is there anything else? It can't have been just that. Not all day." Hiccup had fallen silent again for a moment. He debated internally with himself whether to admit what he was thinking, the whole mantra of a chief being strong coming back to his thoughts. But, he'd already admitted one emotional weakness. Might as well make it two and be done with it. Hiccup shifted in his position to face her properly and clasped at her hands with a fierce grip she was seldom used to. She even had to hold back a wince from the surprising strength he was displaying. His emotions about this were running high, that was for sure. He figured if he was going to tell her, no need to hold them back.  
"Today, I... I just keep thinking about what could've happened differently. If Dad had been slightly faster or I had done something more to try and stop it and... every single time, I come back to _him_. It's his fault and I..."  
"Him...?" Astrid asked, her voice quiet enough to nearly be obscured by a brief gust of sea breeze. Who was he talking about? Both Vikings were unaware of the pair of brilliant green eyes watching them from the darkness as Hiccup began to rant unhinged. He didn't seem to want to say who it was, his voice stammering everytime he had to bite back the name.  
"... I know I shouldn't feel this way. I shouldn't. A chief has to be clear headed, not obscured by stupid 'feelings' and junk," Hiccup started, mocking that last word as though it were a taboo for Vikings to have. "But every time I think about that day... I'm still angry. Not just angry, furious. I feel so mad when I see... him staring at me and... and I hate him. I hate everything he did. I hate that I couldn't stop him and I hate the fact that I gave him a second chance to make up for what he did. And I hate being reminded of what happened every time I see his face. I'm not a fighter, I know. I'm not supposed to be mad enough to feel like I could pick up an axe over it, but how am I supposed to do my job if I feel like that?"  
Astrid wasn't sure what Hiccup was talking about, but the implications of what it could be made her blood run cold. Though not quiet enough for them both to ignore the rustling of bushes and leaves behind them from the owner that pair of eyes leaving the scene. The pair of them saw nothing and could only assume it was the breeze. They were wrong.

* * *

 _'...h-hate...?''_

Toothless could scarcely believe his ears and eyes. He couldn't. He wouldn't. He _daren't_. He would never say that. He had only heard fragments and pieces of what Hiccup was saying. But that single line stood out in his mind as the only thing to nearly make him feel physically sick.  
 _I hate him._  
His worst fears and paranoias about whether Hiccup had ever truly forgiven him for that day on the Sanctuary shores were being realised right before him, unfolding like a waking nightmare. All those times before when Hiccup had reassured him it wasn't his fault, that it was all the former Alpha and Drago's doing... it wasn't to help a traumatised dragon with what he had done. It was just Hiccup trying to surpress his feelings to keep everyone happy. Hiccup being his usual giving, wonderful self, the trait he loved about his human. To do that even in the prescence of a creature that he despised for killing his father... Toothless would be proud if he didn't feel a hole tearing his heart to shreds. Hate. Anger. All that vitriol of the moment. It was all his fault and Hiccup thought so too. The dragon couldn't close his mouth from the shock.

 _'... he... never forgave me...'_

He'd only come back outside when he had noticed Hiccup still hadn't retired to bed and to his side. He just wanted to check on his beloved rider to make sure he was OK. The night was always harsh on Berk, but he had instead found that out first hand. Not with the weather, but with words. The truth about what had made his human so upset. If dragons knew how to curse, Toothless would be doing so at himself. He had been an outright murderer, of course he wouldn't be forgiven so easily. How _could_ he be forgiven for something so terrible?  
Stupid dragon, stupid, naive, idiot dragon.  
And the thoughts began to snowball in his head as the Night Fury's emotions spiralled out of control just like his rider's own. He knew he hadn't heard most of the conversation. He knew logically that Hiccup could have been talking about almost anyone else who was there that day. But who else could he mean? Either way, it didn't stop those thoughts, his turmoil over that night on the Sanctuary shores, from manifesting into nasty accusing voices.

 _You killed their chief._

 _It never has been the same with him since then, has it?_

 _He only wanted to keep the peace._

 _You don't deserve him._

Toothless felt his eyes sting, hot moisture building behind the lids as the reality of what Hiccup really thought began to sank in. The voices were right. He didn't deserve him. The dragon blinked, damp scale reflecting in the dull light of the moon. He felt like he nearly choked, unable to make a sound before twitching his wings once. In a matter of moments, nearly silently from his instinctive stealth, Toothless turned tail and ran. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't know how far he would go. But he needed to get away. Anything to stop his Hiccup from feeling any more pain. No more hurting, no more sadness. If he was the source of it... then what right did he have to stay? For some selfish reason of being coddled?

 _'...I never deserved you...did I...? Not after what I did...'_

If only the Night Fury had stayed just a fraction longer.

* * *

"Hiccup... you don't mean...?"  
"Why not?"  
Astrid was lost for words at this reveal. How could Hiccup say such a thing about someone so important to him? Had the weight of tomorrow's event really gotten to him so badly? Or... was he just being vague because he still didn't want to talk about it? Her face scrunched into a scowl, seemingly fed up of the vagueness as her inner Viking bluntness made itself known to overpower it. She freed one of her arms from his gasp and promptly smacked him on his own.  
"OW!" Hiccup helped, the action having taking him by surprise as he hissed and rubbed at what would be a massive bruise in a few hours. "Geez, still got a heck of a right hook there, Astrid..."  
"Hiccup, be serious! You couldn't have possibly meant-"  
"Why wouldn't I mean that about Drago?"  
"Because you... wait, Drago?" she asked, her brain having to catch up with her own confusion as though it had lost all ability for a split second. Hiccup nodded his head.  
"Yeah... I mean, I'm supposed to be the peacekeeper. So I tried to reason with him and give him another chance after what he pulled on us. It's pathetic... what kind of chief reasons with the man who killed their father? And yet every time I see his face, I just... wanna take him out and I know I shouldn't. It's not who I am. I'm not a fighter, but sometimes I wish I was to make up for my mistakes."  
Astrid suppressed the urge to punch him again at his revelation of conflicting feelings. Knowing who it was had this make a whole lot more sense than it had a few moments ago and relieved her mind that something else hadn't spilled out into the open which would've sent shock waves throughout Berk.  
"It wasn't a mistake. You were just being you." She simply sighed in relief, holding onto Hiccup's arms again and just leaning against him. "That's why I like you." Hiccup was a bit surprised from her sudden change of mood from 'furiously punching' to 'content and cuddle-able'.  
"This isn't an attempt to catch me off guard is it?"  
"Off guard for what?" she asked with a hint of a sly grin. A grin that made Hiccup nervous.  
"I-In case you think I need another pu-"  
Astrid did catch him off guard. Though this was with a gentle kiss, her head having snapped forward and tongue tied him (literally) by muffling his sounds. Despite the cold air, she could feel the heart radiating from Hiccup's face, almost enough to make her laugh all over again. As she pulled away and leaned her head against his shoulder, Hiccup turned dead silent, twiddling his thumbs against hers furiously to show how flustered he was. A few moments passed, the sound of the open sea being the only accompaniment to their embrace.  
"You'll get through it, Hiccup. OK? Remember; just another day."  
"...yeah. I'll be alright. Thank you, Astrid," he answered, rubbing over his hands with his fingers.  
"Anytime. I do love you, you know."  
"I love you too..." Hiccup mumbled, causing Astrid to smile at getting him to blush this hard. This had helped immensely. With Astrid, the village and his beloved dragon by his side, Hiccup felt like he could face this and keep Stoick proud. He could and he would. Just another day. Wasn't it?

He just had no way of knowing the damage he'd accidentally done.

* * *

The morning came without pomp and circumstance and rightly so. Regardless of what the date symbolized, Hiccup wanted to make sure it was just a regular day in all possible ways. No special ceremonies, no acknowledgement. Just... a day, like any other. Astrid had helped better than she realized last night, the pair of them having spoken and talked for a while before coming home. Nothing in his room had looked out of place, either from how dark it had been or because he was severely in need of sleep when he got inside, meaning that Hiccup had no way of knowing that Toothless had gone missing.

The morning rays peered in through the open hatch of the house roof brilliantly, the morning sky a nearly equal shade of rosy color as the sunset last night. Hiccup stirred, his body clock having automatically adjusted to be aware of his surroundings just in time for a Night Fury attack. He pulled the blankets over his head to hide himself from view, only the occasional spike of hair visible to the outside world of his cocoon. He braced himself with a light smile on his face, eager to get the day over and done with with his best friend by his side. But the longer Hiccup waited, the more confused he got. He had expected to feel Toothless press his bulk into his side to get him out of the bed by now, yet nothing had happened. He pulled the fabric off his head and looked over the other side of the room to see if there was a sneak attack planned instead.  
"Toothless?" Hiccup's question was given no response, neither audibly or visually. Instead, he found himself staring at an empty raised platform where Toothless usually would be. The chief forced himself to sit up, quickly hopping out onto solid ground with a bit of a unbalanced sleepy wobble. "Bud? You in here?" There was no response. Hiccup frowned to himself. Maybe he was just outside to get ready for their morning flight? He still had to feel a slight welling of burden in his chest about this. He hadn't meant to be so dismissive of his dragon the previous night and he wanted to make up for it if he could. Easier said than done when said dragon had vanished. He had to wonder why. Even if Toothless was outside, it wasn't like him to do that anymore. Ever since the Battle, the pair of them always woke together. To break that routine out of the blue didn't sit right. Either way, he would find him eventually. Berk wasn't that big after all. After quickly donning his flying leathers in preparation for the morning journey, Hiccup hurried down the stairs with an uneven metal clunk and wooden bump of his feet against each step. Valka and Cloudjumper were nowhere to be seen either, probably having gotten their own flight in before he had even woke up. With no reason to stick around, Hiccup grabbed a chunk of leftover bread from the living room table and stuffed it in his mouth, huffing around the foodstuff as he adjusted the straps around his sleeves. Slightly stale, but enough fuel to find his dragon.1

* * *

The day was surprisingly clear that morning, the clouds barely a prescence in the sky. Already the village was alive with activity, dragon and Viking alike heading off to the usual duties of the day. In the distance, Hiccup would even make out the glowing embers of dragon fire rising from the Arena, showing that the other Riders had at least gotten to work with the new recruits. Hopefully they would stay as embers and not nearly cause a wildfire like last time. Business as usual. Now he just had a missing dragon to find. The young chief walked through the village center, greeting the passers-by and other residents. Some of them were soft spoken, well aware of what today meant to him. While Hiccup appreciated their care in handling the situation, it wasn't what he needed. The fact Toothless was making himself difficult to find was starting to twist itself into that clenching feeling in his chest again.  
 _'Come on, Toothless, where are you?'_  
Hiccup first approached the blacksmithing dentistry, noticing Gobber already hard at work refitting some new saddles for the dragons that had managed to grow over the last year. He didn't seem to notice the young chief approach him from the roaring of the forge fire until Hiccup spoke up. His head was still spinning and whirling around, trying to catch any sign of black scale or wing, anything. He didn't even realise what he was doing.  
"Busy day today Gobb-ER!"  
The last emphasis of that syllable was jarring compared to the idle tone the sentence started with. As he had tried to lean against the fitting machine, Hiccup hadn't been paying attention to the rest of his body in his scanning of the shop and accidentally pushed a bunch of tools onto the ground. The resulting crash, despite Hiccup's best efforts to keep it on top of the counter, scattered hammers, pliers and all manner of metal objects on the ground, making him wince in regret.  
"Yep... OK, that happened..." he hissed at himself with screwed shut eyes, just as Gobber turned around with an expression that only seemed to say one word. Really?  
"Yeah, well it wouldn't be so bad if someone didn't try to wreck my shop just by saying hello!"  
"Old habits die hard, I guess..." the chief mumbled, shrugging his shoulders as Gobber smiled in that usual crooked manner.  
"Ah, don't worry about it, lad. I remember the days when you used to do a lot worse than that."  
"W-Worse...? I don't know what you're talking about..."  
"Well..." Gobber started, switching out one of his prosthetics to the wooden hand to count fingers on. "There was the axe thrower, the bola sling, the automatic sword dispenser..."  
"Hey, th-they were all works in progress, they function just fine now!" Hiccup protested with a pout, though his former mentor's laughing at the memory soon made that expression fade. "Busy, huh?"  
"Oh, yeah, as ever. Only just starting to run out of the metal from Bludvist's lot, so I've still got plenty. Need to fashion saddles for the new recruits, reinforce the ones belonging to the twins on account of an... 'accident'. Don't ask... and a couple of teeth to be pulled. And they say _you're_ the busy one."  
"That's good..." Hiccup murmured with a slight smile, his eyes having once again wandered off to look around the shop's narrow spaces and hiding places. "Say, Gobber... you seen Toothless this morning?"  
"Me?" the blacksmith retorted over the fire with a raised brow. "I thought you two were damn near joined at the hip by now. But nah, too busy trying to make my _own_ dragon do his job... GRUMP!"  
Hiccup raised his hands and nodded again in thanks just as the usual booming of Grump's lazy fire starting and Gobber's ranting about the adoption process began to echo from the bowels of the shop for everyone to hear. Those two would never change. However, it still left him no closer to finding Toothless.1

* * *

The Arena was the next logical place to look. Maybe the Night Fury was wanting to make sure the dragons involved wouldn't be unruly for the new recruits. That would make sense. As Hiccup approached the Arena entrance and passed the inner stone archway, he had barely opened his mouth to speak before a piece of shrapnel zipped over his head like a plasma bolt, impaling itself into the wall. He checked over himself quickly to make sure he wasn't missing anything as he raised his head to get answers. Conviniently enough, he got them from a rider straddled atop Barf and Belch.  
"And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you tear your target to shreds. The ol' belch and smelt!"  
Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Of course it would be them doling out this kind of advice. Astrid, Fishlegs and Snotlout seemed about as impressed as Hiccup in their escapades, a raised brow on all of their faces as they stared at Tuffnut mid-exclamation. The other recruits seemed just as baffled as to what they had just seen, making the male of the twins huff when he noticed they were all staring at him.  
"Oh, come on, I spent a lot of time on that name!"  
"Maybe if you put more time into keeping that fire under control instead, we'd be more impressed," Astrid snorted, rolling her eyes.  
"You're just jealous you can't be as explosive as we can, Astrid," Ruffnut said with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's OK, not everyone can have the most firepower in their dragon, but what can you do with just one head to work with?" Astrid scrunched her face up into a scowl before Snotlout burst in with an interruption.  
"I feel I should be the one to point out that no one here can beat Hookfang and me in this department. Fire. That clings to stuff. You can't win!"  
"I would argue that projectile based attacks are far more effective in this regard of single targets..." suggested Fishlegs, holding out one of his cards as if to prove his point based on dragon facts alone. Snotlout shook his head.  
"Forget the dumb cards, sticky fire beats travelling fire any day!"  
"Are we just going to forget the giant gas explosion? Huh?" Tuffnut injected.  
"Actually, all of you have your advantages in certain situations," Hiccup finally said. "Now, if you could just elaborate on what those are, maybe the other recruits would have a better time understanding why they're watching you blow stuff up."  
The other Riders looked up from their squabbling as their chief and gave polite greetings, as much as the ones currently arguing seemed a little too on edge to be anything more than brief. Astrid on the other hand smiled warmly at Hiccup and stood to the side making room for him in their group.  
"So, what _are_ you doing anyway?" Hiccup asked as he approached.  
"We're trying to train the recruits on how to pick and choose your targets in a fight, with how different dragons can create different fire effects based on shot limit and distance," Fishlegs explained with a content nod. "It's been going rather well, until-"  
"Until the real heroes rocked in and showed that gas explosion is the best explosion!" Tuffnut piped up.  
"Preach it!" his sister joined in, prompting the two heads of their dragon to look at each other. Even they didn't seem convinced. Hiccup snickered to himself as he copied his behaviour from the shop, looking around the arena with intent to try and find any trace of his own reptile.  
"Uh, earth to chief? You in there?" Snotlout asked, peering in closer and waving a hand in front of his face. Hiccup jumped back, startled.  
"Oh, y-yeah, just... uh, have you guys seen Toothless?"  
"I haven't seen him since yesterday," Astrid admitted, her face seeming to scowl when she noticed Hiccup's own do the same at that answer. "He's not with you?"  
"I haven't seen him since yesterday either," he replied, rolling his shoulders. His previous resilience against today were starting to waver just a bit. "Uh, thanks, I'll keep looking. Can't be far, right? Good luck with the... explosions. I guess."  
Tuffnut and Ruffnut slammed their helmets against each other with a unison agreement, like they had permission to continue. As Fishlegs and Snotlout raced forward to stop their inevitable destruction of the Arena, Astrid stared after her boyfriend as he left. Maybe her advice wouldn't be as useful as she hoped.

* * *

They used to say that time flew when you were having fun. They never did say anything about what time did when you were worried though. Especially if you were more worried than you ever thought you had the capacity to be. Hiccup's thoughts mirrored yesterday's all too well as he searched, every fruitless discovery only making him more panicked and frightened over where Toothless had gone. The houses, the docks, the highest perches, even back home at least three times. All empty, all lacking a Night Fury. Right now, the sun was setting once again. When Hiccup had wanted a distraction from what today was, he had been ironically rewarded with something that made him feel worse. His breathing was shallow, harsh, the young chief trying to catch his breath as leaned against the outside wall of his house. He was exhausted from running himself ragged all over the island, but his adrenaline, his fear of what could have happened kept him going.  
 _'Toothless... where did you go?'_  
Immediately, Drago sprang to mind. That lunatic, the one who he had spoken of his rage towards yesterday was a primary suspect in the disappearance of a Night Fury over anyone. It would be just like him to catch Berk unaware, all to capture Toothless. Maybe it was just to have some sort of bargaining chip, maybe to get some sort of revenge for being beaten down before. Maybe it was to get rid of the Alpha, kill many birds with one stone. But Hiccup didn't think it was too likely. Drago's forces and influence were left in tatters after that fateful battle in the skies of Berk. The self proclaimed Dragon God would be evil enough to do it, sure, but he was not capable of carrying it out.  
The next imagining in Hiccup's frantic brain was Toothless being in trouble for more innocent but no less serious reasons. What if he had been injured whilst on his own somewhere? What if he was stuck out in the wild without anyone to operate his tail? What if he'd crashed into the sea..? Again, Hiccup shook his head. The two of them had been inseparable ever since they beat Drago. Toothless wouldn't be foolhardy or daredevil enough to try anything like that by himself. And certainly not after feeling how he felt.  
There was only one place left that Hiccup had not yet looked. There was no reason to think that his dragon could be there, but it was the only spot left on the entire island that he could think either of them could access by themselves within a day. Despite how his limbs burned and ached, Hiccup aimed for the cove. He was close to breaking point as his body forced itself to run for the tree line. If Toothless wasn't there... what would he do?

* * *

"Toothless! Toothless!"  
Hiccup's yelling echoed between the trees like they were the pillars of a grand temple, the expanse of green seeming to stretch into infinity as darkness began to descend. He wasn't even thinking about anything else in the village at the moment, how they'd be treating his own disappearance. All he wanted was Toothless. All he _needed_ right now was Toothless. As he stumbled over a familiar log that had grown completely dark green from the moss spreading over its surface like a virus, he carried on, his prosthetic slipping and trying its best to stay gripped to the twig and foliage covered ground.  
"Bud! Answer me! Where are you?!"  
He was still given no response, nothing except for a brief flutter of bushes from a creature way too small to be a dragon running away from his voice. The lump in his throat was getting bigger the more he yelled and trudged through the forest relentlessly. He needed to stop, his skinny frame feeling like it was going to collapse like Gobber's work table earlier. But he couldn't. He dare not stop until he found what he was looking for.  
"TOOTHLESS!"  
His yell made his voice crack from how he strained it, Hiccup having to place a hand over his neck from how it made that lump in it feel even worse. He stammered over what he wanted to scream next, feeling his eyes become hot and wet with the beginnings of anxiety. No, this wasn't happening. The universe couldn't be cruel enough to do this to him, not today.  
"Oh, Gods... don't do this, just let me find my-"  
He stopped when he raised his head. And saw a pair of green eyes staring back him in what seemed to be shock. Hiccup's heart soared.  
"Toothless! Bud, I'm so glad to see you!" he cried out. "Where have you-"  
He didn't get to finish when those eyes suddenly darted to the side and started to move away through the forest frantically. They had looked... sad. Even afraid. Hiccup's chest tightened once again.  
"W-Wait, stop! Toothless, stop!" he called, starting to dart his way through the trees to chase the slightly darker shape he could see doing the same ahead of him. He knew the dragon would be faster and more nimble, proving so the more he ran. More than once, Hiccup stumbled and hit one of his extremities on a rock or a branch or some other sort of hard object. The pain was only slight through, the surge of energy pushing through his system to finally reach Toothless forcing him to carry on.  
"Toothless, please! Stop!" The Night Fury didn't even look back, only seeming to be pulling further way as he grunted in his own physical efforts. Hiccup couldn't understand it. Why was he running away? What could have possibly happened to make him do this? The young Viking grimaced as he forced his way through a particularly dense cluster of branches, his pace having slowed considerably. By the time the near elastic pieces of brittle wood had whipped back to their original positions, he had fallen again onto his knees. He scuffed his trouser legs as they scraped along the ground, bashing his hands into it to support himself as he felt lacerations from the prickly debris coat his palms. He hissed as he looked up from his fall. Toothless had vanished again. Hiccup didn't even realized he'd let a tear slip until he began to scream again.  
"T-Toothless?! Toothless! No...! N-No, please don't leave me here!" he cried, slapping his hand into the ground in frustration as to why his other half was running. "TOOTHLESS!"  
He had to catch himself as those words escaped his jaws. Why had he said that...? Was it because...  
Hiccup shook his head, forcing himself to his feet again and briefly brushing himself down. Stay calm, stay focused. If he didn't get his bearings, he'd be just as lost as his dragon. He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with the inside of his arm as he tried to figure out where he was. Those fallen trees... that group of rocks in the distance... he was close to the cove. He could only pray to Odin that Toothless would be there as well.

* * *

A bruised and battered Viking made his way into that secluded spot, the area coated in a pale blue moonlight. Just like yesterday. He didn't have time to feel nostalgic, sliding noises of fabric against rock echoing against the sturdy walls of the retreat as Hiccup made his way to the base of the cove. He groaned, holding onto one of his arms that had taken a particularly nasty hit for a moment. He was sure that most of his flying leathers had been equally ruined or ripped with his exertion, almost enough to match how rough his voice felt. He walked slowly through the cove, his eyes and ears as on high an alert as they could be to pick up on Toothless. He heard nothing at first, though the moonlight was helping with his eyes. He exhaled with an exhausted sigh, slipping down onto one foot with a grunt on impact. He should've been more careful. Now Mom and Astrid were only going to ask more questions when he got home. As he rubbed over his arm again, a noise got his attention. A distinct pressing of something into the ground trying to sound as light as possible. Hiccup looked in front of him and dared a smile at what he saw as relief flooded his body.  
"Toothless... oh, thank the Gods it's you..." he said, pushing himself back onto his feet as the dragon stood in front of him. Immediately he noticed how Toothless was not sitting down. He was on all fours, his stance low to the ground as if he was ready to take off again at any moment. The dragon's expression pained Hiccup to see, looking nearly afraid and shocked at seeing his human here. As much as the Night Fury wanted to leave and stop his human hurting any more, something about seeing him in distress would always bring him back. An Achilles heel that he couldn't stop caring for the Viking, as much as he didn't deserve that care back in return. Hiccup took one step forward and Toothless took at least three back. That hopeful smile evaporated into the night air as he reached out one of his hands. Another three steps back.  
"Bud, come on, it's just me..." he reasoned, taking another step. Another three, nearly to the point of being up against the wall. The Night Fury darted his head around like he was trying to find a way out as he felt his wings press against the stone. Hiccup's panic began to build again in his gut, making him feel like he would vomit from the tension of the moment.  
"T-Toothless, it's... it's OK, it's just me. Come on, bud, we need to-"  
Toothless had none of it, hunching himself up against the wall and warbling out a sad howl. It pierced the night, making Hiccup's ears ring from the volume. He shook his head, having a hard time processing what he was hearing.  
"...bud, I-I... I don't understand. What's wrong?" he asked, trying to summon his knowledge of dragons to maintain in control of the situation. The parallels of that day started to creep into his head. Though now the shoe was on the other foot and it was he who was backing the dragon into a frightened corner this time. Toothless knew damn well what was wrong. _He_ was wrong, he wasn't supposed to be with the human anymore. And now he had put Hiccup in danger, but also another agonizing situation. He howled again, nearly roaring at the Viking to get away from him.

 _'No! Just go! I'll only make it worse!'_

"Toothless... just let... just let me..." Hiccup started, reaching out a hand again to mimic their first meeting. Appropriate in this place, wasn't it? "S-See? You remember this, right? Just come a little closer and..."  
Toothless' response was another roar, a brief illumination of flame at the back of his neck, enough to make Hiccup jump backwards. He felt sick. His dragon, his other half, was doing _anything_ to keep him away. Why?

 _'I don't deserve you! You hate me! And you SHOULD!'_

"Bud..." Hiccup murmured, sinking to his knees again like he was begging for his Night Fury. He tore through his memory, feeling like he could tear out the right ones from his head with his bare hands he was so desperate. And he eventually came to one specific moment.  
 _'Think, Hiccup, think. What happened? What was different? You spoke your mind to Astrid. You were honest, you let all of that stuff out and... and that rustling...oh. Oh, Gods, no...'_  
The penny dropped. The truth glinted like a razor. And Hiccup wanted to punch himself. He hadn't thought about what he was saying. About who might be listening just out of concern for him not coming home that night.  
"No... no, no, no, no, no, Toothless, no, I...I didn't mean..."  
He should've been clear who he meant, he should've made sure he wasn't misunderstood despite his attempts to keep himself calm by not mentioning names. Now look where it had gotten him.  
"Bud, I never meant... I-I didn't... Gods, I'm sorry..."  
Stupid Viking, stupid, naive, idiot Viking.  
All the time that his traumatized dragon had needed him, that reassurance that it wasn't his fault... all it took was one instance of being too vague and he'd ruined it all.

It all made sense now. Toothless was petrified. Horrified by what he had heard. A simple few words enough to trigger a cacophony of emotions from a dragon still internally battling with the guilt of what the Bewilderbeast had made him do. And on a day where that event was fresh in Hiccup's mind, his dragon had been let down. He'd been shunned. And then hurt. Accidentally or not, it shouldn't have happened. Hiccup knew that this sort of problem, this trauma... it wasn't something Toothless wanted to forgive himself for. Not for a very long time. It had been the job of his rider, his closest companion to forgive him instead. The young chief lowered his arm and his head, remaining on his knees as he realized his mistake. This was why he never wanted to talk about these things. It only made others feel worse when he did. But he was not going to mope. He was going to salvage this. He was going to prove how much Toothless meant to him. Hiccup sniffed and looked up again. Toothless was still pushing himself back against the wall like a frightened animal. But he hadn't left yet. Maybe that was a good sign.  
"...Toothless. What I said, what I meant when I was angry... I meant Drago. I meant the _real_ monster behind what happened with Dad. I was right when I said I hated him. I get so angry thinking about him that sometimes I want to kill him myself. But I didn't think that about you. I wouldn't... I _couldn't_ think that about you.  
"I know I didn't want to talk. And look where it got us when I did. Right back where we started, unsure of where we both stand. Toothless... bud... I'm _so_ sorry. You needed me. You've needed me for a long time and I was being selfish. I let you down. You still need me, to prove that it wasn't your fault..."  
Toothless' posture relaxed as Hiccup spoke. His words... they sounded sincere. Regretful for such a simple misunderstanding causing such a huge problem. The Night Fury warbled, tentatively taking a few steps forward with a sad expression. His Hiccup even smelled sad. As he came closer, Toothless could sense the moisture on his human's face. His former self-loathing melted away, replaced by an urge to protect. He came to sit in front of his human, his eyes on the ground like he too wanted to apologize for his behavior. If Hiccup was telling the truth, then he was still in the wrong.

 _'I didn't listen to you. I should be the one who's sorry.'_

He crooned, gaze fixated on the floor as if in shame for this whole episode on today of all days. The dragon flinched when he felt Hiccup's hands suddenly clamp around the sides of his head. Even as those fingertips trembled, the Night Fury refused to look him in the eyes.  
"Bud. Look at me. Please."  
Toothless hesitated in following that command. At least until Hiccup tensed his fingers again and spoke up to make sure this would be heard properly.

"Please don't go. Please don't go, too."

The dragon's mouth opened with a light vibration as he met his rider's gaze. Hiccup smelled sad, but the smile over his face was betraying it. He was upset over what he'd done, but he was hopeful. He just wanted his best friend back. He didn't want to lose anyone else in his family.  
"I need you, Toothless. I love you."  
Toothless blinked once at those words. Those sweet, tender words that filled him with such pride at meaning so much to the Viking. The dragon gave a watery-eyed toothless smile before his wings curved around his front and wrapped Hiccup in their embrace, hiding him from view. At the same time, Hiccup's arms squeezed around the Night Fury's bulky neck, clinging on for dear life like he wouldn't get another chance.

 _'I love you too, Hiccup. I'll never leave you, again. I promise, I won't.'_

Hiccup savored the vibration running against his cheek, the warmth of his dragon's scales against his skin. It seemed appropriate to face this now. Just as the night took over and the anniversary of the Battle's conclusion truly occurred. All those years ago at this very moment, Hiccup stood and watched his father go to Valhalla. But now, today had another reason to be remembered. The day that a boy and his dragon made sure their friendship would never be jeopardized again. Hiccup sighed with another sniff, the broad grin stretching across his mouth, unable to be lessened by the lateness of the day or that they were far away from home. He'd stay here all night if it meant resolving this.  
"I think that Vikings have it wrong, you know," Hiccup said after some silence, making his dragon's ear plate twitch to focus on the words. "We don't need to hide how we feel to be strong. Toothless, if you're ever sad, you'll tell me won't you?. And if I'm ever sad, I promise I'll tell you. And we'll be sad together until we work it out. Alright, bud?"  
Toothless nodded, pushing his head down to nuzzled the top of Hiccup's head with a content noise at the base of his throat as he squeezed the human's body close to his own.

That sounded wonderful.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** _I'm back! I'm sorry for the delay between chapters, you know how life is. I felt inspired after reading a sad prompt by a certain **jackthevulture** on Tumblr about this sort of situation and I wanted to expand on it. This also helped immensely with my own mood to write. I hope you all enjoy._


	8. Engage

**How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities**

* * *

 _ **8\. Engage:**_ _Forget the Red Death. Forget Bewilderbeasts and maniacal Dragon Gods. Forget being the chief of a Viking island. Doing this was going to be the hardest thing Hiccup had ever done._

* * *

Today had to be perfect. Anything less than that was simply unacceptable. That's what Hiccup kept telling himself with every second he was fussing. The usual duties of the day had been done as early as he could manage so that they wouldn't interfere with his thoughts and yet even that hadn't been enough to calm his frantic mind. With the evening slowly approaching now the sun was starting to set over Berk, he wouldn't stop pacing his room in a frenzy. His footsteps resonated through the wooden floor of his house, that fact making it a wonder that someone hadn't tried to investigate what he was doing up there from outside.

Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, clutching at the messy locks before he tore his hands away with a shake of his head. He couldn't focus. The rest of his body felt like it was having nerve spasms. His heart was hammering away at the inside of his chest like a sword against Gronckle Iron and his stomach was wrapping itself in knots. This anxiety had been more intense than anything he had ever felt before. He hadn't even been this on edge when facing Drago. Or at least, he didn't think so. Either way, he shouldn't have had a reason to feel like this.

It was just what he and Astrid did every couple of weeks or so, mostly at her insistence to stop him running himself ragged being the chief. They'd just take an evening out of their schedules and duties, go somewhere private and just spend an evening together. Like a date night or something. Except with a lot more places to choose from and the fact the dragons usually came with them. He'd already prepared for the evening, ditching his flying leathers for much more comfortable and casual clothing. Red shirt, smart pants, even a fur cape that fastened around his neck to accompany a shiny new boot. Chiefly in appearance, all that was missing was a hat. Just like any other excursion with Astrid. So why was tonight making him feel this jittery?

Toothless watched from the opposite side of Hiccup's room, his large green eyes following his human's path back and forth so many times it was starting to make him feel dizzy. The Viking had been doing this for what felt like hours. It was a bad habit he'd observed Hiccup indulge in whenever he was in a deep thinking mood, something that happened with a rather alarming frequency now that the business of ascending to chief-hood had been taken care of. But this was getting ridiculous, even for him. The Night Fury grumbled and stood up, getting in Hiccup's way to stop his frantic walking around in circles. If he kept going like this, he'd be doing so all night and never leave the house! The dragon caught the Viking off guard by suddenly being in his path with a firm sit down, causing Hiccup to nearly stumble over Toothless' front leg when he spun around on what would be his 30th time turning in the opposite direction.  
"H-Hey!" Hiccup exclaimed, clinging onto Toothless' head and then pushing himself upright again. "Careful, bud! Can't have me showing up with bruises because of dumb, big... dragon claws or something." Toothless wasn't impressed with Hiccup's attempt to pass his own clumsiness off as not being his fault, raising a brow with a growl to accompany it.

 _'You look silly with all your walking.'_

"And don't give me that look either!" Hiccup continued, pointing a hand upwards as if to assert what little dominance he had with his tone taking a painfully obvious false bravado. "I don't need your accusations! I am the chief and there will be consequences! And I..."  
Hiccup paused as the thought left him and Toothless didn't look the least bit impressed. Acting this way was just another distraction that was stopping him dealing with the task at hand. He sighed as he sat back down on the bed, laying his head in his hands.  
"... and I'm being stupid, huh?"  
Toothless cooed to his human, coming to sit in front of Hiccup and pressing his head forward to move those hands out of the way and see his rider's face. Hiccup himself sighed and scratched over his dragon's head with a smile as the Night Fury offered his usual gummy grin back at him to keep his spirits up.  
"I know, bud. Can't put it off forever. It'll be just like our other nights out with her, right?" The Night Fury seemed to agree with a bob of his head.

 _'You'll be fine, I know it.'_

Hiccup exhaled and stood, the dragon moving out of the way to hopefully let him walk.  
"I sure hope it is..." He gathered up a satchel of things from near his writing desk and slung it over his shoulder, preparation for the evening's plans. He hadn't told Astrid what they were, especially since it was his turn to choose what they did. It would be nice. And certainly less dangerous than her previous suggestion of dragon racing through uncharted cave systems. Always an adrenaline junkie, that one.

* * *

As the chief and his dragon descended the stairs, Valka was only just coming in. Having spent most of the day aiding Gobber in smelting down the final pieces of Drago's armor fragments, her face was lightly blackened with soot. No one else had been available and Cloudjumper's fire was a welcome help since Grump still had a track record of being an unreliable forge furnace keeper. She stretched, hoping nothing would crack. She wasn't quite in the age range of being the old lady who had to retire early just yet and she didn't want to be. Or at least, that's what she'd say, much to her dragon's annoyance at her persistent attitude of acting younger than she was. But spending all day in front of a furnace was not her usual work. It wore you out quick. Cloudjumper managed to squeeze through the narrow door frame as well, entering the living and settling himself down with a grunt.

"Oh, hey, Mom!" Hiccup called, just reaching the ground floor with Toothless behind him as Valka set her staff and riding gear down against the far wall. She turned with a smile and bowed her head, almost looking a bit surprised that Hiccup had made himself look like the most important person in the Archipelago.  
"Well, you're looking awfully fancy. You have plans tonight?"  
"Yeah, just heading out with Astrid."  
"I didn't realize it was that time again already."  
"Well, time flies when you're busy solving _everybody's_ problems as the chief," Hiccup said dryly. "Tonight's just a chance to do something normal for a change."  
"I've seen your 'normal', Hiccup, it's anything but," Valka stated with a grin. "But I won't pry, as much as the embarrassing parent role still needs to be filled." Hiccup rolled his eyes with a gentle laugh, trying to disguise the nerves that still plagued his body. Valka noticed it in the light quake of his shoulders. And the fact his hands were in clenched fists.

"Are you alright, Hiccup?" she asked, her expression softening into one of concern as her son tried to pass it off.  
"Alright? M-Me? Pfft, yeah, it's all good! I'm just heading out to probably do somethin' stupid, you know me! What's there to be terrified of?" Hiccup explained, his tone coming off as a little _too_ jolly to match his body language. Valka's blank reaction at his choice of words made him hesitate. "Did I say terrified? I meant, uh... yeah."  
Toothless looked at Valka with a raised brow of his own, as if to highlight the fact his rider was being strange.

 _'See what I have to put up with?'_

Valka rolled his shoulders as she sat down in a chair, knowing the time and place not to pry into young men's personal bothers unless he wanted to say them.  
"So where are you both going to be headed? I hope it won't be a repeat of the racing fiasco in those caves, far too dangerous..."  
"S-Says the lady who _walks_ on her dragon's back when she flies!" Hiccup protested in defense. "And that whole race? Wasn't even my idea, _she_ did it!" Valka didn't seem phased by it.  
"With age comes experience. I'm sure you'll figure it out some day."  
Toothless didn't look very excited about that idea as he snorted. Having Hiccup stand on his back instead of ride on it was frankly alien to consider and he preferred the closeness they had with the saddle. Hiccup noticed his pouting dragon and pulled a face as he scratched around the Night Fury's neck.  
"I think I'd have to convince the baby to let me try it first. Isn't that right widdle baby boo?"  
Toothless' stare screamed bloody murder as he rumbled at his rider's near callous attitude towards changing their flying dynamic. Thankfully, Hiccup's hands knowing all the right spots to scratch was enough to force a smile to stretch across his jaws. Valka chuckled, waiting for a serious answer as Hiccup turned back to her.  
"We're just gonna fly. Maybe out to the north, some secluded spot," Hiccup finally explained. "I got a bunch of food and the dragons could use the flying since they've been restricted to Berk for months. Maybe even stay out there for the night."  
"I'm sure she'll enjoy it," Valka assured him with a loving smile. "Though you're looking mighty formal for just that."  
"I know, I know, I just..." Hiccup started, letting out an exhale. "I just wanna make it special. Because I... I'm... nghh..."  
He grunted as the sentence got away from him. Valka leaned her head in a little closer, silently pushing him to say what he wanted to. Hiccup's fists clenched again as his head lowered, his speech mumbled.  
"Because I'm... I want to...ask about..."

Valka gasped in equal parts shock and joy, jumping from her chair with the speed of a dragon as it pegged in her head what her son was intending to. Even though she had just as much of a chance to be wrong, the prospect of it was too exciting to not think about.  
"Hiccup...! You're going to...?"  
"...either that or stammer out awkwardly what I want to say for ten minutes, yeah," the chief responded. He sounded almost a little glum, just as Valka rested her palms on his shoulders with a proud grin.  
"Oh, babe," she hummed, brushing against his cheek like she had done the day they had first met properly. "You really have grown so much in so little a time."  
"Is it really grown up to do something this stupid?" he replied, letting out a sigh. "I know that it's not tradition to do it this way, that's not how it's supposed to work with Vikings. You go over the other person's house with delegates and set out some weird contract like you're renting out a stable and..."  
"There's nothing wrong with tradition breaking. You've done that enough times for all us and for the better."  
"But I don't even know how I got brave enough to decide it's what I want!" Hiccup blurted out with a reddening face, suddenly hushing himself as if he were paranoid that Astrid might be listening. "H-How do I know that she...?"  
"It's hardly stupid," Valka interrupted. "You two have been through thick and thin over years and years. And that's only from what I know of the fragments you've told me. She does feel the same way about you. You've just both not had a chance to do anything about it."

Valka squeezed Hiccup in a big hug, feeling his body tremble against her own as she relaxed her grip. The boy was shaken to the core at what he was wanting to do tonight. Toothless whirred and pressed his cheek into Hiccup's leg to remind him that he wasn't going to be alone when he managed to pull it off.

 _'I'll be there if you need me, OK?'_

The chief shook his head, like he was trying to wake himself up from a nap. An exhale followed. And then another. His dragon nudged him, aware that he was just wasting time at this point.  
"Right... uh... I guess I'll be back later."  
"I look forward to the good news," Valka encouraged him with a nod. "Remember, you'll be fine. Break a leg out there."  
"Hopefully it won't be literally. I don't have many good legs left."  
With that trademark self-deprecating out of the way, Hiccup and Toothless left the house.

No turning back now.

* * *

Astrid heard the knocking on the door only moments after the thought of it occurring entered her head. Hiccup always called at the exact same time, almost to the very minute every time they made these arrangements. It was like that exact and detail obsessed brain of his wouldn't shut off, even during these nights where the whole idea was that it was supposed to so he could relax. She snickered to herself as she stood up from her bed and brushed herself down.

As per Hiccup's request, she'd done her best to dress up for the occasion, as much as she secretly loathed having to do so. Dark blue dress, fancy headband, a much smaller furred hood and less spiky boots, more styled hair than usual. It worked fine enough, sure, but she still felt much more at home in her usual battle-ready attire with an axe handy. Still, Hiccup liked seeing her this way and you always had to make sacrifices in a relationship.

"Well, girl, how do I look?"  
Stormfly peered over her rider's body, the Nadder's eyes running up and down as if to inspect very detail of Astrid' choice of clothes and preening capabilities. The often vain dragon gave a crackle and a flutter of her wings in response, half lidding one of her eyes as if to imitate a shrug. Astrid's brow scowled into a joking pout before she smiled.  
"Yeah, I don't think it suits me either. Come on, he's waiting for us."  
Astrid descended the stairs at a rapid pace, Stormfly following behind her with another warbly crackle as they reached the entrance to her home. She reached forward with a hand and pulled at the latch, swinging open the equally heavy door and allowing it to slam against the wall.

"Good evening, milady!"  
Hiccup and Toothless were both stood before them both, wearing their best smiles and dress sense. Well, as good as a dorky chief and his similarly dorky dragon could pull off. Her boyfriend was dressed up just she was, looking rather dashing with that cape around his shoulders, fastened with the insignia of a Night Fury around his neck. The real Night Fury had a similar attachment to the front of his harness equipment below his neck, making it obvious the pair of them had done it on purpose. Toothless wagged his tail like an excited dog, lolling out his tongue to emphasize how he adored the fact he matched his human. Astrid couldn't help but laugh at how sweet it looked. And silly.

"Hah! Well, hello there, gentleman!" she replied in a mock sense of sophistication that didn't suit her at all. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Stormfly seemed to comply and imitate her rider by raising her head and appearing to gaze down at the two males as it to size up their appearance. Even dragons could appear to be snooty. Hiccup looked back at Toothless for a moment before his teeth flashed in a sly grin. He chose to play along with it.  
"I would inquire as to the fair lady's response to treat her to a night of whimsy and fantastical delights and... nope, can't do it..." he spluttered, unable to keep up the charade for much longer. Astrid nodded with a similar giggle, stepping out of the house with Stormfly in tow.  
"It's alright, I prefer you doing the weird shoulder thing anyway" she said simply, shaking her arms in the flattering impersonation she had developed.  
"W-What? Again, who is this character? I don't do that!" Hiccup protested, unknowingly portraying the very same mannerism she was imitating. Astrid raised one of her eyebrows and briefly flicked her vision down to his arms. Hiccup picked up on it and waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea. "OK, so maybe I do a little..."

"I forgive you," Astrid allowed, holding onto one of his hands with a squeeze of both her own as they began to walk a little. "As long as you have a good plan for tonight. It's going to take a lot to beat mine!"  
"H-Hey, need I remind you that we almost got lost and crashed? I dunno about you, but the lack of open skies and breathtaking sunsets weren't exactly my idea of a romantic night flight!"  
"You were fine! You're just mad 'cause I beat you in the race."  
"Beat me? You _never_ beat me and Toothless!"  
"That's not what I remember!" she laughed, eventually choosing to find another topic to talk about. "OK, but seriously, what's the plan? I've actually been curious about what sort of thing you'd cook up."  
"Well, I was thinking a flight somewhere. A particular spot for us to just spend a night. Away from all the workload and the hustle and... just us. With the dragons in the background, of course."

Contrary to what Hiccup expected, Astrid's reaction to his idea wasn't one of rolling her eyes or finding it boring in comparison to what they had done last time. She seemed almost pleased it wasn't anything too strenuous. She could see how their last little date was probably not the best example of trying to relax from the duties of being chief. She smiled sweetly at him as she came to Stormfly's side, jumping upwards towards her saddle and settling into place ready to take off.  
"Well, do lead the way. Rude to keep a lady waiting, especially if you want to avoid a punch."  
Hiccup snickered to himself as Toothless hunkered down to allow him to board. Always with the treats of violence with her. Fastening his prosthetic into the mechanism and activating the tail fin, the chief leaned down and spoke quietly into the dragon's ear.  
"Keep it smooth and gentle, bud."  
Toothless bobbed his head downwards as if to agree and then made a noise to Stormfly. The Deadly Nadder crackled at her Alpha and prepared herself for take off. A second later, both dragons used their powerful legs to jump into the air, wings beating down hard and pushing the grass beneath their feet out of the way. It wasn't long before Hiccup and Astrid were sailing off towards the sunset at a rather decent speed. Hiccup didn't want to miss the view. It would be perfect.

* * *

"Wow... I can't remember the last time I saw this."  
Astrid's words did have a point. As the two Vikings and their dragons floated over a sea of orange and pink hued clouds close enough for them to touch, they had to admit it had been a long time since they'd witnessed this sort of sunset. To Hiccup, it was nearly nostalgic in how it reminded him of the first time they ever flew together, back when the Dragon War raged on. On the back of Toothless, the worries about the fighting and the differences between species seemed a world away. That feeling was just as strong now, the day to day struggles and duties and challenges far removed from Hiccup's mind.  
"Well, it was either back during the days of the Edge. Or the time you were screaming and holding on for dear life."  
Astrid scowled at Hiccup harshly and raised her arms as if to challenge his words.  
"Uh, you _kidnapped_ me, remember?"  
"Yeah," Hiccup said simply, just smiling sweetly at her. "And I'm glad I did."  
Astrid's angry face evaporated as a smile of her own appeared on her lips. She couldn't say otherwise, because she felt the same way. That was how they had first become friends and it was the starting point to a lot more.

It didn't take much longer for them to arrive at their destination, just as the sunset was starting to dip below the ocean of cloud. The two dragons angled their wings and slipped through the mist, chasing the sun as it suddenly brightened the horizon when it came into view once again. Astrid looked around once the thick condensation had rushed past her, squinting through the beams of sunlight and recognizing where she was. They were just on the outskirts of the furthest out sea stacks, nearly the strangely named Itchy Armpit. And in fact, they were descending right towards that very place if Toothless taking the lead was any indication. She decided to stay silent for now, curious to see what Hiccup would do.

The Night Fury and Deadly Nadder glided past the remaining mound of rock left behind from Hiccup's near crash with the flight suit all those years ago, making a wide turn before beating their wings rapidly to gain enough altitude to reach the cliff top. Toothless grabbed the edge and sprung over it like a cat before coming to a sliding stop. Hiccup looked over his shoulder to see Stormfly perform a much more graceful landing than his own dragon, allowing Astrid to dismount and brush herself down with a grateful pat to her ride's side.

"So taking your date to a place named after a dragon body part. Nice."  
"He named it, not me..." Hiccup objected, pointing at Toothless. The Night Fury looked up from rubbing over his face with one of his paws, seeming a bit surprised they were talking about him. "And besides, it was the only place I could think that was private enough away from everything else." Astrid just laughed and strolled over to Hiccup, giving Toothless a bit of a scratch under the chin, much to the dragon's enjoyment.  
"I like it. That view out there is really something."

Hiccup spun on the spot, the very same one he had been scrawling on with his map a year or so ago now. Indeed, the sight that greeted him was spectacular. Piercing through the hazy mist that hung around the pillars of stone beneath them like islands on a cloudy sea, the fading sunlight was cutting through in beams, setting the sky a blazing orange on fire. At this altitude, it was still a little cold. But the way that the sun was perfectly nestled between the mountain ranges in the distance warmed Hiccup's skin. It relaxed him. Astrid seemed to agree as she took one of his hands in her own and squeezed it tightly. This was the kind of thing she'd been hoping for ever since she'd seen the signs of fatigue on her boyfriend's face. The dark circles under his eyes, the crease in his brow from his concentrated expressions. This would give them a perfect chance to relax.  
"So, here we are," Hiccup said after some moments silence staring over their private little sanctuary. "And now we eat."

Hiccup slid his satchel off his shoulder and set it down on the ground, gesturing Astrid to sit beside him as he unfurled it carefully. He produced what could've been a miniature feast from the depths of that bag. Pouches of fish, meat, mead and bread, with plenty spare for the dragons. Both reptiles walked over as they smelled the aromas in the air, both the Nadder and Night Fury sticking their noses in with curious sniffs. Hiccup raised up both of his hands, twitching his outer fingers and then rolling them outwards in a way that forced both Toothless and Stormfly to watch the path of his digits. A little trick he'd learned from Mom about trying to distract dragons away from something that could distract them in turn. He only needed them out of the way for a little while, giving him just enough time to unroll one of the blankets from his home. Much more comfortable to sit on than rock and grass, right?

Astrid had stood back and watched him with quite a broad grin. Even just seeing Hiccup be such a natural with the dragons was cute to see and the fact he'd gone to all this trouble just for tonight only kept her smiling. Once he had properly set out their 'dining area', she sat down beside him as he rewarded Toothless and Stormfly for their patience with a mound of fish. Instantly, they snatched up their share with eager bites, causing Hiccup to flinch and whip his hands back in surprise.  
"Geez, it's not been _that_ long since lunch..."

"Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool," Astrid murmured, staring out over the horizon with that gorgeous setting sun to accompany their intimate little moment. "It's amazing..." The familiarity of her choice of words was not lost on Hiccup as he flashed his teeth in a smile at her.  
"Did I pass?" he asked, leaning towards her somewhat as if to make sure that this was something she would enjoy. Her response came with a quick kiss to his cheek, a surge of heat flushing to the area and making his face seem red. Astrid had to laugh again. He was so easy to fluster.

* * *

The night was merry and plenty long, the sky taking hours to finally start lapsing into darkness. As the pinpoint lights of the stars above began to replace the illumination of the sun, the dragons had made a fire for them just as the cliff's edge. Astrid and Hiccup reminisced about their past memories and adventures, bickering over who did what and who was the most impressive, all in good fun. The food didn't last as long as had been initially planned, no thanks to dragon appetites and the ability of a certain Night Fury to pull off big eyes all too well... but it still went down a treat.

Once their supplies had been exhausted, Toothless and Stormfly settled behind their riders and listened intently as the mead went to their heads for a brief moment. It caused both their riders to belt out the silly songs that they had conjured up for the baby Deathsong all that time ago at the Edge. Or at least, Hiccup did that. The chief was a bit of a lightweight when it came to anything related to drinking, especially since the general Viking temperament for it was much stronger than his. It was a good thing Astrid was there to make sure he didn't overdo it, having to stop him stumbling over the edge of the cliff.

More time passed and both dragons had soon fallen asleep when the fire had gone out, sated with full bellies and feelings of contentment being close to their humans. Astrid and Hiccup had also both calmed down, finishing off their tankards with a final 'cheers' and leaning against each other with held hands. The pair of them stared up at the moon, the circular shape in the sky looking so bright and full that they could touch it if they tried.

"Reminds me of when we were first out exploring. Remember? On that beach searching for an outpost island?" Astrid commented, gesturing to the moon. "How long ago was that?"  
"I dunno..." Hiccup admitted with a shrug. "A couple of years?"  
"Feels like it was much sooner than that."  
"Time flies and all that. Though, technically it doesn't, but you know..."  
Astrid smirked and jabbed at his arm playfully, making him since a little bit with a rub. Such a dork.  
"Thanks, Hiccup," she hummed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Tonight was amazing! I can't believe you went to all that effort just for us."  
"Well, I do try to please..."

Hiccup wasn't looking at her when he responded. Instead, his head was returning to it's frantic state from this morning. He'd left it so late that the nerves were starting to come back. And even worse, Toothless was now sleeping comfortable behind him. He couldn't wake up his dragon just to keep him steady through what he wanted to do. He'd have to go it alone. And that terrified him. Astrid had briefly closed her eyes to savor the warmth, but had quickly picked up on a shiver. It was subtle and she only just barely felt it. But she knew it was there.  
"Hiccup? You alright?"

Hiccup was broken out of his stupor at the question, clearing his throat and trying to reassert his sitting position. Great, now she knew something was up. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. He simply nodded his head and tucked his legs a little bit closer to himself as his hands started to fidget among themselves. His breathing quickened for a second, only increasing Astrid's sense of concern about him.  
"Hey, what's wrong? You feeling sick?"  
"N-No, no, not sick, I... I uh..."

Hiccup suddenly stood up, breaking free from Astrid's hold as he stood before her. With the moon being the only source of light, it outlined Hiccup's silhouette to her like he was a ghostly figure, unable to make out the details of his face as he turned his head over his shoulder. He exhaled once, his hands clenching into fists.  
"Astrid... I... uh... you know I-I love you, right?"  
"Of course I do, Hiccup, just like I do you," she assured him, getting to her feet and taking a few paces towards him.  
"Good! G-Good... 'cause, you know... i-it'd be pretty weird if you didn't, huh?"  
Astrid frowned. Hiccup was looking down at the floor again. A telltale sign that something was bothering him and he was trying to distract them from what was causing it. She turned him with a noticeable pull at his shoulder, lowering her body to look at his face from below to try and make his head go level again. It was a bad habit he had, a life time of trying to avoid accusing stares having ingrained it in his mannerisms.  
"Hiccup, you can tell me if something's wrong. It's the least I can do after what you did for me tonight."  
"Nothing's wrong! Honest! A-All peachy and... whatever other words go with peachy!" he stammered. "I'm just... just overwhelmed with terror. Y-You know that feeiling, right? Everyone loves terror...!"  
"Terror...?" Astrid asked. Now that didn't make sense at all. She took his clenched hands into her own and held them against hers to cease his babbling, the pair of them highlighted by the pale glow of the moon. "Alright, now you _have_ to tell me."  
"Well... um... uh..."

Hiccup's hands started to fidget again as he refused to raise his head. Astrid kept her frown going until she managed to catch a glimpse of him from under the shadows his messy hair cast across is face. Hiccup's face was bright red. The reddest she'd ever seen it, red enough to make Toothless' prosthetic fin look dull in comparison. Her expression softened as she gave him another squeeze with her palms to encourage him to talk. Hiccup trembled as she did so. He knew he had to say something. It really was a now or never moment.

"A-Astrid... you're... I mean, I... Gods, what am I doing...?"  
The last part was mumbled more than said. Astrid shuffled forward and touched foreheads with him for a moment, trying to let him know that she was there for him silently. No matter what was on his mind, she wouldn't want him to turmoil over it inside. At his own pace. Another reason she didn't say anything. Hiccup took a minute to compose himself as best he could. He held onto her hands with the strongest grip he'd ever had. He started to speak, his face burning as hot as Toothless' fire.

"...Astrid. Y-You're... you were the f-first person to really believe in me. Back then, when everyone shunned me, you let me explain everything with Toothless. You gave me a chance. A-And then you were my first proper friend. And a-as time went on, I really started to like you. Love you... a-and I do, I really do! I... never thought I-I'd ever get to where I am now without you. And I c-can't show that gratitude and love enough... not after 6 years... so... uh..."  
Astrid listened with held breath, her heart starting to slow escalate in pumping speed the more Hiccup opened his own to her. It was romantic and a touch exhilarating. Now she knew what his nerves must've felt like. They didn't speak like this often, so it had to be important.  
"Hiccup..." she breathed, allowing him to keep talking.  
"So, I... I-I wanted to... I wanted to make sure that we had... l-lots and lots of years together. And before you say it, I-I know this isn't how you're supposed to do it! I know that th-there's the boring thing with the _heimanfylgja_ to arrange, but I d-don't have a male head of the house except f-for me and I'm probably breaking a hundred different r-rules doing it like this, but.."  
Astrid gasped at the mention of that word. Arranging a dowry? You only ever did that if you were organizing a...

Hiccup broke her train of thought as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an object clasped in his hand. She stared down at his palms, lost for words when he opened his fingers. Laid in the center was a gold fabrication. A ring of metal that had been fashioned into the shape of a Deadly Nadder's tail, curled in a spiral like it would trap your finger with the spikes. Astrid had never felt this sort of emotion in her before, usually buried beneath Viking roughness and toughness. But this was something she had never expected and it was almost enough to make her eyes water.  
"Is... is that...?"  
"A _mundr_... I-I made it myself..."  
Astrid's fingers touched the gift, the surface cold in direct contrast to the burning of Hiccup's skin. She stared at him with an agape mouth, the capacity to speak having floated away like a feather on the night breeze. Such a wind ruffled Hiccup's hair as he stared at her. Just like hers, his own eyes were on the verge of tearing up, a little like he was afraid of what her answer was going to be when he said the next part. She saw him swallow the lump in his throat to be the bravest he'd ever been with another person.  
"A-Astrid... I love you. W...W-Would you... would you join me in... _brudlaup_...?"

The word made Hiccup flinch as he said it, the true impact of what he had just asked hitting him like a plasma blast. He'd just asked her to marry him. It didn't really sink in at first, the true weight of that question slowly clawing at his heart. Her answer would determine whether or not that grasp around his chest would relax or crush it. The trembles made him look like he'd come down with something, patiently awaiting her response as he squeezed his eyes shut. He waited agonizing seconds. Tick. Tock. Still nothing. He started to chastise himself before she had even said anything.  
 _'Nope, you screwed it up, Hiccup, left it too late, she's gonna say no, why'd you work yourself up so much, you useless fishbo-!'_

"...yes."  
Hiccup's eyes flew open with a gasp of shock. It took him a second or two to raise his head up and look back at Astrid. She was smiling wider than he'd ever seen her, her own face flushed red and with a single tear rolling down one side of her face. He'd never seen Astrid properly cry before. She'd come close, she'd had bad days. But if this was going to be the only time that he ever saw her cry, he was relieved that it was because of something joyful. She nodded her head rapidly once before she suddenly leaped at him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and burying her face into the crook of his neck.  
"Y-Yes! Yes, I do!"  
Hiccup couldn't hold back his own well of emotion as he snickered first and then started to laugh, the excitement around his chest losing that horrible feeling of weighted dread.  
 _'Oh my Gods... she said yes. She said yes!'_

Hiccup pressed his body against Astrid's, angling his head down to kiss her properly on her lips. Just as ever, she felt warm and tender to the touch. But it was exaggerated because of how flustered they both had become at the prospect. Actually getting married. They held contact for what felt like hours to them, the passage of time and where they were having lost all meaning as they kissed. She made a soft muffled sound against him before they parted, her hands resting on his shoulders. She sniffed once to calm herself down as she tried to play it coy and collected. It didn't work well, but she gave it a good go.

"S-So, uh... that's what you were scared of?" Astrid asked, giving him a half punch half nudge on his chest. "You dolt. It was just a question..."  
"Well, excuse me for not being the most well versed in how to propose to your girlfriend!" Hiccup stumbled an answer back. He didn't feel like his face could burn any hotter with his blush, something that Astrid adored seeing.  
" _Engaged_ girlfriend now," she corrected him. Hiccup's lips curled up one side of his face in a smile.  
"Yeah... engaged. Isn't that something?"

Astrid didn't give a worded answer and instead squeezed around Hiccup's middle with her arms before she leaned in for another kiss. She wanted to take the lead this time. Hiccup obliged with another shiver running up his back. The slowly fading moonlight added the perfect accompaniment to the moment, the soft howl of the wind on the rocky cliffs below creating an almost ethereal quality about it. It still felt unreal. Something that he had once never thought he'd be lucky or fortunate enough to experience had come true. And with someone who meant as much to him as Astrid did. He was partially glad Toothless wasn't awake. He'd keep the dragon up all night with his excited yammering.

"So was this a better plan than your last one...?" Hiccup asked, at least wanting to know if he'd gotten that right. Astrid didn't need to say anything to answer as her hands wandered over his spine.

Much better.


End file.
